Her Hero
by zeropointchoirgirl
Summary: Elliot gets a new boyfriend and Dr. Cox is suspicious of his intentions. Elliot/OC; Elliot/Cox Father/Daughter
1. Beginnings

_**Author's Notes:**_ _Okay, this was the first idea I ever had for a Scrubs story but I never really got around to writing it because I didn't exactly know how the whole process should go about getting to the climax…it actually originated from a dream I had after Elliot sang "Sally's Song" about JD, mixed with the original and Amy Lee version and then it went to this, but I must say, it'll end quite a bit differently than in the dream. Let's just say I woke up crying…_

_Anyways, this is my first Scrubs continuation story. I actually have all the chapters plotted out already on paper that I did in school after I got done with my work. Although the song of inspiration is not Sally's Song, but is instead Pretty Girl (The Way) by Sugarcult…you should listen if you haven't, it's great. :D Plus, at the end of chapter two, it'll totally make sense. I'll insert random lyrics from the song throughout the entire story to give it a little more depth and whatnot…anyways, enjoy!_

_**(EDITED)**_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own or claim Scrubs as mine or it's characters. If only...

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_It's the way that he makes you feel; it's the way that he kisses you; it's the way that he makes you fall in love…_

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"Hey guys, guess what? I got a new boyfriend! Isn't that great?" Barbie squealed in excitement at the top of her lungs.

"What's his name?" asked Carla inquisitively.

"Brian Summers, I just met him this morning before going to work. We somehow started talking after I spilled my cappuccino on his shirt…,"

"Ouch," Turtlehead mumbled.

"…and then we got to talking about our favorite hobbies, plus, he's such a sweet and wonderful guy, _and_ polite too _with_ great hair! He's not like anyone I've ever dated before!" she exclaimed idiosyncratically, making my ears bleed.

"…not like anyone you've ever dated before? Huh…," Sally mumbled, trailing off in disappointment at the obvious fact that she _has_ dated someone like that, only now they have testicles.

"Guys, I think he's the one," she avowed, her whiney voice now becoming very serious and euphoric as the blue-eyed pain in my ass's eyes traveled towards the ceiling, detaching herself for a quick moment of reverie.

"You've got to be kidding me; you've only known him for a couple of hours!" Carla exclaimed exasperatedly, using her quick Latina gesticulation, and then placing her hands on her hips. "That's not enough time to judge a person, Elliot, especially when you haven't even been on a _first date _with the man yet!"

Blondie was quick to snap out of her trance to respond, side winding her head, "Yeah, well, how do you know that he _isn't_ the one for me, huh there, miss judgmental?"

"Because Elliot—you barely _know_ the guy!" she exclaimed, stating the obvious once again, her Latina accent thickening her enraged words.

"Yeah, Elliot, Carla's right, it is a little weird. You don't know if he ain't no gangbanger or some homely person wanting a free bed to sleep in at night or…or…a _tranny_!" Gandhi stated comically, his obvious concern for his friend in his voice being present.

"Yeah, you haven't even been on a date with the dude yet…and aren't ya kind of quick to be getting back out there this soon, right…ha-ha?" mumbled the startled Newbie, who obviously wasn't too keen on Barbie getting together with someone after they had just broken up.

"Whatever you guys, just be happy for me, okay?" she sighed, her shoulders slumped and her posture sinking inwards.

Everyone nodded and I decided to walk up to them to give them my two cents of the deal. "So, Barbie, I see you've finally found your prince charming, eh? Well, that's just dandy and all, but honestly, was it that you were just so excited to finally being able to get some real flesh instead of that nerdy, white, pasty sex you had been having with Lucille over there, or did you just decide to call every new relationship you throw yourself into some sort of Taylor Swift 'Love Story' because you lack common human compatibility and the fact that moments like those are just _so _rare for you because no one likes whiney, neurotic little girls? Or, was it the fact that you could actually get into a relationship that you didn't ruin by, oh, say, a smoldering hot cup of mocha latte being thrown onto some poor fool's chest who felt sorry enough for your clumsy ass to ask you out on a date that got your little heart fluttering, princess? Which is it? Is it the new sex buddy, the love story, or the mocha? It's just _see_-_HOE _magical, isn't it?"

She just looked at me, thunderstruck with her mouth hanging open, and she blinked hard, angrily responding, "It was a cappuccino! A-and you're an ass!"

Grinding my teeth and scowling, I shoved a patient's chart into her hand and told her to get to work and began to walk away. Of course, I hadn't even walked a few feet away from the four of those pains-in-the-asses when the she-devil's voice rang through my head as she crept up behind me, following, yakking away as usual.

"Getting on your nerves yet?" she sneered, clearly amused.

"From the moment I heard the children crying," I answered her sarcastically, clearly irritated.

"I meant Blondie, you jackass," she snarled.

"When doesn't she, I mean, she _is_ Barbie, you know," I said casually as I turned towards the break room, "so, what the hell are you doing here anyway? Surely you're Botox injections haven't worn out already, have they? Because if it's money you're looking for, I gotta tell ya, sweet cheeks, I'm spent, comprende?"

As we entered the break room, she replied, "No, no, just stopping by to say hi and to ask if you've gotten any patients that may have been tied to a serial killing case from something I had been reading about. Apparently there has been some sort of Jack the Ripper character running around and killing random victims off within a three-day period. There have been eleven known victims so far and each of the victims mysteriously disappears and then they are found in some remote area, gutted and battered. It's speculated that there could be more out there and it seems to be only happening within our metro area so I was curious as to what you may know about this," she asked just as casually as if it didn't even concern her, which I knew it didn't. Although I wasn't going to ask, I wondered why she was so interested in it, but I honestly didn't have the time to listen to why, I'll ask later.

"Nope, haven't heard anything about any murders and whatnot, nor did we receive any patients like that, _but_ if I do hear something, you'll certainly be the _last_ person I'll tell, _oh-kyay_? _Buh-bye_!" I informed her quickly as I began to leave the break room practically running from her.

Then of course, another pest just had to follow me too. What did she _want_? Can't I ever get a break? "Barbo—whatever you've got to say—"

"Can you cover my shift tonight? I already asked JD but he's busy tonight too and Brian and I real—"

"Fine, just get your whiney face out of mine before I change my mind," I growled, now regretting making that decision and obviously, Samantha isn't really busy based on her track record.

"Thank you _so_ much, Dr. Cox! You don't know how much this means to me!" she teemed with unbridled, Barbie joy.

"Yeah, yeah, just go," I warned her maliciously, and she began to walk away with a skip in her step. My first thoughts were why the hell did I just do that, but I suppose since Barbie's been working extra hard lately, covering one night for her won't hurt anything, I suppose. I might as well take a few hours off for the afternoon, my patients aren't going to die within the next few hours anyway and my gomer's asleep, so I'm clear for the meanwhile.

I took my seat at the counter and ordered a scotch on the rocks and began staring at the T.V. After a few seconds, I noticed someone beginning to sit next to me and turned to investigate. The first thing that caught my eye about him was his perfect hair. It was charcoal tinted, flawlessly moussed, and it looked completely natural, unlike Newbie's hair. He had a very round, clean and young looking face, so I could have guess he was around about thirty-five. He had perfect posture and teeth, but oddly enough, he almost had a cold vibe to him, despite his smiling at me.

"What's your name, pal?" he asked curiously. He then turned to the bartender, "One small glass of liquor, please," he requested.

"Perry. Perry Cox—and you?"

"Brian Summers's the name," he paused for a moment with an inquiring look on his face, "you wouldn't happen to be Dr. Cox, would you?"

So, _this_ was Barbie's coffee shop boyfriend. "I'm guessing your new girlfriend mentioned something of me, eh?" I started chuckling proudly, "I'm sure she's told you a lot about me and what a great doctor I am."

He smiled disappointedly, shining those pearly whites at me, answering, "She mentioned you, but according to her, you're the biggest pain in the ass on earth and she wishes that your head would just explode when you go on your 'long-winded rants.' Of course, her words, not mine. You seem like a pretty decent fellow to me, so that's fine by my standards. I don't pass judgment on people." What on earth did they talk about during that short duration of time?

His mannerism for some strange reason seemed too perfect. Underneath that perfection and boyish complexion, he had some sort of expression engraved on his character that didn't seem to hide well behind that flawless smile of his, something almost troubled, dangerous maybe. I had never met someone that I instantly felt something very foreboding about them was present, and he hadn't even said or did anything wrong to irk me to think that.

"She said that now, did she? I'll have a talk with her later," I mumbled heatedly.

"Oh, I'm sure she doesn't mean it like that," he said. Immediately, the bartender gave him a glass of liquor.

"You haven't known her long enough to have the right to say that, buddy, that's Barbie all over," I chuckled bitterly. I probably seemed like the spiteful person I am trying to make him out to be now. "So, what's your profession? I think we've already gotten mine covered," I asked him curiously. Why was I so curious about this guy? I usually let the other person question me before I them, because basically, I could care less. Especially considering this is Barbie's new boy toy. Don't tell me I actually _care_ about who Blondie's seeing, am I? Dear God, the world is surely ending.

"I'm a traveling salesman, so I don't stay in one place for too long," he said nonchalantly as he gawked at the wall in front of him.

Peering over at him emotionlessly, I asked, "Then why the hell date her when she obviously couldn't follow you because of her own profession?"

He smirked and took a sip of the drink he had ordered a moment ago, "I guess…because something special about Elliot attracted me to her," he said impassively.

What amazed me the most, though, was how soullessly he spoke of her. Maybe that was just the way he was, but something about him didn't seem normal. He didn't come off as the sweet and caring guy that Blondie made him out to be. Maybe he really was just giving her a pity date for embarrassing herself, who knows? I also could just be quick to judge…wait, why in the _hell_ did I even care? It wasn't my problem! God knows I try to stay out of my colleague's personal lives as much as possible, especially Barbie's! I must be coming down with a fever or something, dear God…

"So, how long have you known Elliot?" he spoke, nudging me out of my trail of aggravating thoughts.

"Five years as of recent," I said, rubbing my facial hair slowly, and then my curls. He could tell I was aggravated.

"Ah. I'm also guessing because of your age that you're her superior, or perhaps her mentor, or something to that effect?" he tried to guess, only being half right.

"Superior—yes. Mentor—hell no. Never, ever, not in a thousand years ever, not even if I irrupted into flames and my life depended on me saying that horrible phrase to extinguish them, not even if a gun was put to my head and was asked that very same question can I assure you, the answer will forevermore be _no_—not now, nor will I hee-ever, be Barbie's mentor. Not even if I had the opportunity to ruin Hugh Jackman's _career_. I am never going to be her mentor, never, ever, _ever_! _No_!" I exclaimed, physically emphasizing my point with my famous hand gestures and facial expressions. Though, I may have gone a bit overboard with my rant.

He was completely awestruck and surprised, but to my own surprise, he smiled faintly, "I guess she was spot-on with your 'long-winded' aspect of ranting," ending with a finishing sip of his liquor. "Hate to leave ya, pal, but I have business needing taken care of elsewhere, so maybe we'll see each other again sometime in the near future, say?" This time he seemed sincere enough.

"Don't count on it." I was only being honest.

He actually chuckled, "Yeah, same here." He sat up and nodded at me, "Take care," he mumbled. I nodded back and took one last sip of my scotch and soon got up and left myself to get started on Barbie's shift.

As I sat over at the lunch table, the four most annoying people, Carla an exception, walked in and of course, Barbo was jawing away about her date last night to her friends.

"…and Brian was telling me how much I reminded him of this girl he had a crush on in high school, but then he said that I was _light-years_ prettier and more interesting than her and that he enjoyed the date with me and hopes to go out on another date with me again really soon," she said, taking a deep breath and sighing as they all sat down at my table, "and he was such a gentlemen! He did everything right and…just, wow. I can't even begin to sum up how amazing that guy was," she ended, giggling incoherently, her eyes rolling towards the ceiling in a daze.

I just didn't get it. What was so amazing about that guy? Unless he acts like a completely different person around Barbie, I don't see what's so amazing about him in the first place. He seemed too detached and cold for someone like her. He just seemed…_DAMN IT_! Perry Cox, stop thinking about Barbie and her man whore! "If I wanted to listen to something pointless and annoying, I would just sit through a church sermon," I snarled, picked my tray up, walked over to the garbage and emptied it, and began to walk away from that maddening girl.

Moments later as I strolled down the halls angrily, the EMS darted towards me with a female patient with what appeared to be massive bleeding and injuries and I quickly followed.

As we entered the ICU, a very tall and lanky male paramedic told me, "The patient was found staggering alone and bleeding to death in a local park by a jogger a few minutes ago and it's presumed that she was involved in an attempted murder, but she was only able to give the jogger her name before collapsing from loss of blood," he said nervously, "her name is Becky Conner and she's apparently thirty-four years old and from this area, we don't know anymore as of yet," he ended as they placed her on the bed and started to hook her up to the machines.

Attempted murder...most likely by the serial killer Jordan mentioned earlier. Whoever it was, was nearby and right here in the area. Things could be looking dangerous until they catch the perpetrator…hopefully Jordan is smart enough to realize not to go flesh hunting on her own tonight.

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_**Author's Note: **__Okay, so that's it! I hope you enjoyed it and I put a few homage's to certain things in here if you can pinpoint and just some references. Sorry my medical knowledge is poo, I hope it's believable. xD; Anyways, My Nah Nah Nah is coming on and I am going to go! Later!_


	2. Circumstances

_**Author's Note:**__ Sorry I didn't really put a lot of notes like I wanted to at the end of the first chapter, and I was rushing to finish the very last part, so it's really fast…x_x; I actually went back and corrected it…again, as I said, please look over the medical stuff…ugh…but anyways, a little more on this story._

_Okay, so it's officially going to be five chapters long, and the fourth and fifth chapters will probably be the best. X] In this chapter, I'm __**actually**_ _going to describe the severity of Becky's injuries…:P As I said, I was rushed in the last chapter, but go ahead and let your imaginations be creative because it's pretty bad. Anyways, this chapter will really be where the story starts to actually get on its feet. It was seriously difficult to write the first chapter for various reasons but hopefully, I did better on this one._

_P.S.S.: The story's POV changes and I'll go ahead and point out how it'll be…_

_Ch. 2 – Elliot_

_Ch. 3 – Dr. Cox_

_Ch. 4 – Dr. Cox, Elliot, Dr. Cox, Elliot_

_Ch. 5 - Elliot_

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JD, Turk, Jordan, Carla, and I rushed into the ICU to assist on the new patient with Dr. Cox and he was just as flabbergasted as we were once we saw the severity of this woman's injuries, of which I couldn't believe and I started to swell up.

Jordan's eyes glared emptily at the woman and she said, "It's another one…wow. Number twelve…"

"Oh my God," I stammered as I finally broke out in tears, Carla grabbing hold of my petite form.

"Who on earth would do such a thing…," Carla mumbled under her breath, looking directly at Dr. Cox's bewildered face while comforting me.

"Damn," Turk lamented gravely.

JD gazed at her, incredibly stunned at the woman's injuries, which was no lie that they were life threatening and the odds were she probably wouldn't make it.

Who could do such a thing to someone?

After only an hour, we were able to recover Ms. Connor's medical records, and I stayed with her the entire time even though it was _really_ hard because of her appearance and…just what happened to her, it made me very upset. Her condition didn't look good at all and it's estimated she wouldn't make it over night, but I just kept hoping for a miracle. Her entire face was nearly unrecognizable. Her eyes were swollen shut, she had severe swelling of the face, bruising, and she had scars all over from being cut up and thrown against glass. Her entire body from head to toe was beaten and cut, and she lost a significant amount of blood during that whole entire squabble. Even her short brunette hair looked like it had been pulled out and worn.

After a few minutes of taking her vitals, I left for lunch. As I walked into the cafeteria, I noticed that the gang wasn't there yet, just Dr. Cox. I was still too angry with him to sit at the same table as him. Why not make it interesting? I'll just not even acknowledge he's there and keep walking past him. Wait…what if that makes him mad? What if he verbally assaults me again? Frick, stop thinking that way, Elliot! You haven't been Negative Nelly in over a week and you can't start this now! Just walk by him and get it over with!

Recomposing myself, I loosened my posture and face to an ease and took a deep breath. I picked up my tray and walked into the danger zone as I approached Dr. Cox's table and looked straight ahead of me, not even remotely acknowledging his presence and I started to walk by. Yes…yes! I was going to—

"Sit down, you're not going anywhere there, Barbo," he spoke lowly, stopping me in my tracks.

Without thinking, I immediately sat down in the chair in front of him that he pushed out with his leg. I was shocked that he wanted me to sit down with him, unless he wanted something from me, but what? I sat down and looked at my tray for a moment. I lifted my chin up and took a quick glance at him and of course, he was staring at me with a fixed expression of pure seriousness. I quickly looked back down at my tray and was then startled by him.

"Eat," he said mildly as I shuddered. I promptly picked my fork up and started eating my salad. Luckily, I heard Turk and JD laughing and coming over to the table to sit down and eat, so luckily I wasn't forced to be in an uncomfortable conversation with Dr. Cox, because I just didn't want to hear what he might have wanted to say to me, because he obviously wanted to tell me something because of the way he let his mouth hang slightly, but now his aggravated facial expression directed towards them told me he definitely wasn't going to say anything now.

"Hey, Elliot!" JD shouted out happily. He sure was in a better mood than I was, that was for sure, considering what all has happened today.

"Aren't we the bearer of sunshine and kittens today there, Michelle. What are you so happy about anyway?" Dr. Cox grunted, staring at his food.

"Turk was just telling me this great blonde joke," he paused abruptly, choking on his words and realizing what he just said in front of me, and looked back at Turk hesitantly, "tell her, Turk." He just dug his grave, that ass.

Turk stood there for a brief moment with a look of terror and guilt coursing through his throat, noting my slightly angered expression at the subject of the joke.

"Um…um…," he stuttered nervously for a moment, and then suddenly he was teeming with a flash of optimism, I'm guessing for a better reaction from me, "yeah, here's how it goes. There was a blonde lady that walked into a gas station to pay for her gas and she asked the manager for help getting back in the car because she apparently locked the keys inside her car. The manager asked if she had any windows open and she said she had the front window cracked and he gave her a clothes hanger to unlock it with. The manager walks out there to check on her progress only to see another blonde in the car giving her directions to where the lock is!" He and JD both couldn't help but to break out belly laughing, and for whatever crazy reason, I found it kind of funny and smirked a little bit, but not without immediately regaining my annoyed bearing.

To my not-so surprise, Dr. Cox grinded his teeth together as he always did when JD did something stupid or idiotic and got up to leave. "Dear _God_, Sheila," he moaned and left hurriedly.

I was so relieved that he was gone! Now I could eat without him having to bother me and corner me like he always did. Why was he always so judgmental of me anyway when he claims to not even particularly care about me? Was I even worth the breath to him, or did he just enjoy insulting people for funsies? Either way, I was just grateful towards those two morons for getting rid of him and I wasn't going to hold that stupid joke against them anymore. "Thanks _so_ much for getting rid of Dr. Cox for me, you guys!"

They both looked at me, clearly very puzzled, and they uttered in unison, "Uh, you're welcome?" as I began finishing my salad and smiling at them, doing a little happy dance in my seat without actually standing up, because, you know, I can't dance.

During my break, I went to the phone booth to call Brian. I dug through my pockets for the piece of paper he gave me on our first date with his number and a little heart beside it—aw! I picked up the phone and started dialing.

"_Hello?_"

I smiled radiantly and spoke, "Hey! How are you, what have you been up to?"

He remarked, sarcastically joking with me, "_No good, obviously_."

"Ha ha, you're so funny," I stated mockingly, "oh yeah, guess what? We had this patient come in earlier today who had almost been killed," I said kind of despondently, "and she's in critical condition, but the sad part of it is they aren't giving her until maybe morning to live," I told him.

He paused for a moment and I could almost see him smiling as he chuckled, "_Is that so? How interesting_," he said casually.

I started twirling the phone cord and smiled only lightly, just trying to think of him, keeping my mind off of Ms. Conner, "Yeah, her name is Becky Conner and she's thirty-four, and it's so sad what happened to her. Nobody knows who's behind it yet, but the only information they can connect to her attack has something to do with a serial killer that has appeared over the last month or so," I stated quieter than usual.

I could hear him sighing, and he said, "_Yeah, it is sad_," muttering lightly.

I could tell I probably made this phone call pretty depressing, typical me, so I decided to ask him finally what I was really calling him about. "Hey, do you want to come over to the hospital and visit for a little while? I don't have a lot of patients, so we can spend a little time together today. I'm just currently monitoring and checking on Ms. Conner as of right now, actually, but there are lots of other doctors covering, too," I asked curiously, hoping I wasn't sounding too pushy about it.

"_Sorry, Elliot_," he started grudgingly, "_but ever since I was little, I've been afraid to walk into hospitals because of needles. My nurse missed my vein over a dozen times and it traumatized me ever since, so it's almost impossible for me to walk into one anymore,_" he ended dimly, faintly snickering. "_I really am sorry though. How about we watch a movie or something at your apartment tonight, say?_"

I sighed, clearly I had embarrassed myself. Luckily, we both shared the mutual wanting to be with each other, so I agreed. "Sure! How about we watch _Titanic_?" Crap! I forgot, not all guys share my _Leonardo DiCaprio_fascination like I do! I probably just sounded totally lame, great; I've already ruined things before anything began!

He laughed jovially, "Of course! I know this is weird for me to say, but I love that movie and could watch it over and over again," he finished, cackling.

"Great! It's a date then!" I exclaimed. Then I realized…maybe I _shouldn't_ have said that, it may have been too quick.

"Yeah, a date," he muttered, still vaguely snickering.

I gave him my address and told him to meet me there at 7 o'clock, so we'd have plenty of time to watch it. I was so excited! I just couldn't understand what it was about him that made me literally bounce off clouds for him, I just didn't get it. It doesn't matter anyways, because tonight is all about Brian and the tissues I will need throughout the entire movie, it's just so amazing and sad and happy and…_amazing_! Tonight is going to be extraordinary, I can already feel it.

I walked into the break room in the evening and to my surprise, saw both JD and Dr. Cox together. Of course, Dr. Cox was ranting again.

"…and Heather, if you're just going to keep following me around like a lost puppy after being in this hell-hole for five years now, so help me _God_ that I don't take that tail between your legs and yank it right the hell off, sister, and I mean every word I say, so don't you dare come to me for answers to a simple procedure you had already learned back when you were an intern. Now, _go_!" he whistled violently and JD backed right up into me, causing him to drop his chart.

"Oh, God—I'm so sorry!" I shrieked in fault.

"No, no, Elliot! It's—"

"No, JD, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been there in the first place!" I stated somberly, picking his chart up for him, handing it to him.

"No, it's okay, Elliot, really it is," he stammered nervously, almost upset.

"Tell me, _Barbo_, why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be watching over Ms. Conner, our attack patient?" he asked me inquiringly, folding his arms to signify dominance and a foreboding diatribe coming along.

"Oh, uh," I hesitated, regretting Dr. Cox being around, "I was wondering if someone could cover Ms. Conner and the rest of my patients tonight, about around seven, please?"

"Don't tell me you're going out with that guy again, Elliot?" asked JD almost angrily.

Did he seriously have a problem with that after what he did to me? Before I could speak though, Dr. Cox interrupted.

"Now, _Barbie_, let me clue you in on a little something here—you can't just take off every single night your pea-plucking heart pleases, because that just isn't how things work around here and you know that, because as I just got through saying to Larissa here, you've been in this dump for five long years. It just doesn't work that way," he said, possibly the slowest tirade I've heard from him in a while, although taking just as long.

"I'm not taking _every_ night off, just this one night!" I shouted as my voice started to break. Why couldn't I just wait until tomorrow? I need the hours in anyway, besides, isn't it too soon to see him after less than twelve hours?

"I'll cover your patients, I'm free tonight…," JD mumbled surprisingly, catching me off guard by a whole lot as I stared at him, stunned.

"W-what was that now, Sierra?" stuttered Dr. Cox in utter shock.

"A-are you sure about that, JD?" I asked, still befuddled by his sudden advocacy.

"Yeah," he muttered, clearly regretful, "I'll take care of Ms. Conner and your patients." I will never understand that guy, no matter what, but I totally owe him and Dr. Cox now.

Suddenly, our pagers went off—a code. We began our course quickly to the ICU to Ms. Conner's room, who was going into cardiac arrest.

Dr. Cox grabbed the paddles as everyone assisted. "Clear!"

_Zap!_

No pulse. "Again!"

_Zap!_

Still no pulse.

Once more, we tried to revive her.

_Zap!_

We all stopped in our places…she was gone.

"Call it, Bambi," mumbled Carla mournfully, looking over at JD.

"Time of death: 17:36."

Dr. Cox threw the paddles against the wall and went on his infamous tirade, cursing and knocking down everything in his path as we all stood there, frozen. He put his hands behind his head and shouted, "_DAMN IT_!"

No one could move. It literally happened so fast. We just stood there, as if hoping for Becky to wake up, to say it was all a joke, but she never would. We knew she wouldn't, yet we all looked at each other as if time had stopped for a brief moment. We all stood there as Dr. Cox unleashed all his anger because he couldn't save her. No one could. We knew she would go, yet we all still hoped for a miracle.

I took a deep breath and held back my tears as strong as I could. "She's gone."

JD came up behind me and gently placed his soft hand on my shoulder. "Go, we'll take care of everything from here," he said warmly as I let my tears fall silently.

How was I supposed to enjoy my night like this?

We sat there on the couch for the longest time before starting the movie. I told Brian what happened and he understood I needed a little while to clear my head, but soon we got to talking more and I cheered up a little, enough to actually enjoy _Titanic_ the way it was meant to be enjoyed, with both happy and sad tears.

We sat through the movie the entire four hours, briefly talking about certain scenes and showcasing our _Titanic_ trivia amongst one another to see who knew the most, and of course, Brian took the gold. Though, I couldn't help but to notice this intensity between the two of us, which petrified me into thinking that I may have been coming off as overbearing to him, or maybe it was just me. After a while, he didn't seem as jubilant as he had been the last day or so. He almost seemed disconnected from me and that scared me. Why don't I ever take Dr. Cox's advice and shut my mouth during important opportunities such as this one?

I walked Brian to the door, luckily holding hands, and we kissed.

"Thanks Elliot, I had a wonderful time tonight and really enjoyed the movie with you," he uttered solemnly.

I couldn't help but to notice this quiet intensity of his and sudden grip in his hand as he held mine as we stared at each other. I kept smiling nonetheless and said, "Yeah, I had a great time tonight too, Brian. Maybe we can do this again Saturday? I actually have the day off this time," I started, "and believe me, with all the crap I'm getting from Dr. Cox right now, I will probably end up having to go in for the entire day and then having to take it off for our night out, which of course isn't your fault at all, it's just my job requires me having so many hours in a week and it does cut into my personal life some, but that's okay because I've made it work out before, and—" suddenly, he clutched my hand and shoved me into the door, my hand hitting the doorknob and jolting it, and I yelped.

At that very moment, I looked up into his eyes, shocked and frightened, only to notice this completely different person whose heated intensity burned into my soul through my shocked and frightened eyes.

* * *

_Pretty soon she'll figure out you can never get him out of your head.

* * *

_

_**Author's Note:**_ _So that's it for this chapter! Wow, what a feat to write this sucker…my hands feel like they have arthritis, this thing has gone through so many revisions. -.- I didn't realize how hard it was to get in character with Elliot so it's really weird…forgive me…I'm seriously not the best writer out there, I'm certainly no Bells of Tomorrow. :P Horrendousness aside, I hope the actual story and idea outweigh my writing skills…blegh…everything happened too fast…x_X_

_Also, I know that they haven't really talked much about the serial killer but that's because they don't until the next chapter in Cox's POV, so be waiting. 8D_

_The next chapter will definitely be a doozy to write, simply because the end I haven't quite figured out, even in the plot, it's basically rough and hopefully, it'll transcend well into the next chapter, of which I am really anticipating and the final chapter. Plus, I have a really bad problem going on right now in my family, of which may prevent me from concentrating so well, so you may not get it until next week, __**hopefully**__, that is. Anyways, later!_


	3. Realizations

_**Author's Note: **__Wow, chapter three. This chapter is the big transition into the climax of the story, so hopefully nothing will interfere with writing the next chapters!_

_This chapter actually has a lot of Jordan in it (for me, anyway), so if you're a big fan of Jordan, congrats. :D This chapter was very difficult for me to write, but I hope it's not too disappointing at least. It went through a lot of plot revisions nearing the end and had a lot of different transitions to the ending…but I finally stuck to one for this chapter, so hopefully it isn't horrible._

_By the way, I finally settled with the remainder chapter titles. 8) In my opinion, it doesn't give away much so I'm not spoiling anything badly for you that you won't find out in this chapter, so read on! :P_

_Chapter Four – Tribulations_

_Chapter Five – Revelations_

_*realizes the last three kind of rhyme, wasn't intended*

* * *

_

Friday, the day after we had lost Ms. Conner bitterly to a heart attack due to an attempted murder, I was walking down the hall and spotted Jennifer with a chart, most likely headed for a patient's room. I was still shocked by Newbie's sudden change of heart with Barbie, as he seemed to have been avoiding anything to do with that Brian guy. "Newbie, why on earth did you cover for Blondie's shift last night when you have clea-_HEER_-ly shown through your _obvious_ retort against her little boy toy that you are still not over her and in fact, despise him like every other guy she has ever dated? It doesn't seem like the typical and selfish Cordelia I _mega_-loathe," I said as I followed her down the wing of the hospital, carrying several charts along with me.

Newbie looked at me in almost a trance from not getting enough sleep and responded irritably, "I guess I wanted to be nice, that's all."

"Fair enough. Now," I started, not at all satisfied with his answer, "have you seen Dr. Barbie this morning? Her shift started thirty minutes ago," I stated absentmindedly, looking over the charts I had been given by Carla to pass on to her.

Newbie slowed his pace briefly and looked surprised, "You know what? I haven't seen or heard from Elliot at all since she left after Ms. Conner's passing," he stated dejectedly with an expression painted on his face that was clearly of undisputable worry.

"Not that I care or anything, because I _don't_, but what on earth has crawled up your ass so much as to effect the quality of your work the last day or so, because you've been even more detached from the real world and moodier than usual since Barbo started dating her Romeo," I mocked, but not enough to sound completely uncaring, because I was…a little.

We both stopped in the middle of the hall as other staff passed by us. Newbie looked at me with those puppy dog eyes of his and lowered his chin slightly, hesitantly answering. "I'm worried about her. I don't know, I've never met the guy, but there is just something about him that makes me uncomfortable," he began, really catching me off guard as his thoughts started syncing with my own, "and because of this serial killer, you know, I just don't know. How can we really trust this guy? I mean, he just showed up out of nowhere in a coffee shop, and you know, it seems a little fast, not to mention he won't even come to the hospital to meet anybody. I'm not saying he's the murderer everyone's been talking about, but what if his intentions are wrong towards her? " he said, clearing the lump in his throat. "I tried calling her this morning before I went to work to ask how the movie went, but she never answered. I even called again, so I don't know what's up and I'll admit, I'm very worried," he said fretfully.

I gawked at him, taken back by his assumption. I couldn't believe it, Newbie, who had never met this guy in his life, could almost sense what I sensed at the bar that afternoon. I knew he'd worry about her but…the same feelings? Also, what's with her not answering the phone? That's odd, even for that princess.

"Dr. Cox, what is it?" he asked troublingly, but then almost immediately he snapped, "…and _you've_ been acting strange too! You don't trust this guy either, do you, Dr. Cox?" he gleamed with relief for no longer being the only one feeling the way he had been feeling.

Could I really let Jasmine get by with thinking that I was _almost_ as concerned and bothered as she was about the situation? "Look Newbie, I'm not going to say that I think he's a threat, but all I know is that when I met him at the bar—"

"Bar?" he asked peculiarly.

"—yes, the bar, the day before yesterday when I took a few hours off, I happened to run into him there and we got to talking—"

"What was he like and what did he say?"

"—_**STOP INTERRUPTING ME, RHONDA!**_" I bellowed furiously, completely and utterly _annoyed_ by him.

He stared at me, speechless and terrified, mumbling, "Sorry," as he lowered his head and looked away.

Calming down, I continued. "_Anyway_, I can't quite describe it, but the vibe I got from that guy wasn't very pleasing and _basically_ cold, despite the fact that he was _very_ polite, considerable and _practically _guy smiley. I don't know, all I know is that it rubbed me in a way I can't quite explain…," I trailed off lethargically, lost in my own train of thoughts.

"How weird," he muttered quietly, covering his feelings with a blank but tired expression. He finally looked me straight in the eye and mumbled, "As much as I hate to do this, I gotta go check up on a patient…tell me if Elliot shows up, alright?" he affirmed dolefully as he began walking away.

"Sure thing, Newbie," I replied weakly, lowering my head and begun walking in the opposite direction, aggravated and befuddled as I put my hands behind my head and sighed.

I walked up to the nurse's station nearly fifteen minutes later to luckily find Carla and not Laverne there for once this week. "Has Blondie come in yet? I'm really getting tied up with her patients. We just can't be babysitting them for her every time she's out on one of those fantasy escapades of hers," I asked, being my usual, caustic self.

Carla looked up at me deeply and almost angrily, and replied, "She has a name you know, and no, I haven't seen her," but suddenly her glance extended beyond me as her eyes widened. "Elliot! Where have you been?" she shouted frantically.

I turned around quickly to see Barbie walking up behind me. She appeared very exhausted, albeit smiling, looking as though she had, had a sleepless night.

Softly, she responded, "Yeah, I'm sorry guys, I overslept. I'll take my patients now," she mumbled hurriedly, quickly snatching the charts out of my hands.

For a brief moment, I wondered why she was in such a rush until I saw her wrist—it was bruised severely. I also took notice to the fact that she was trying to hide it by a thick, black watch. I felt slightly sick to my stomach as every single thought rushed through my head all at once. Flicking my nose, I asked austerely, "Barbie, please tell me that guy didn't do this to you, did he?"

Carla also saw what I was talking about as her eyes bulged out. "Elliot…," she mumbled grimly.

Blondie staggered, jerking back, realizing I knew, she immediately reacted and recomposed herself. Smiling lightheartedly, she uttered, "_Oh_, that," she started as she rolled her eyes, "I fell last night into the door as Brian was leaving, clumsy me," she ended by nodding her head and giggling.

It had become apparent to me that she was clearly hiding something, and I had a sneaking feeling I knew what. Then again, maybe she actually _did_ fall into the door…that didn't seem to farfetched for that graceful princess. I could also assume that and forget the first idea, but with her reaction just then and the feel of that guy, there was no denying something did happen last night and that injury was not caused by Barbie's smoothness, that was for damn sure.

Carla also didn't seem too convinced from the look on her face, but she apparently bought it anyhow. "You need to be more careful, Elliot, and watch where you're walking," she scolded as she began going through paperwork and files.

I looked back at Barbie as she began walking away and I placed my hands behind me head. I wanted badly to get the truth from her, but I knew she'd just deny it. Something inside me told me that bastard did that to her, and if that's true, then why the hell is she acting like it's not a big deal when it certainly _is_ a big deal? No. No, I knew he did it. There isn't any getting around it. There isn't anything about it that makes me believe otherwise. But why in the _hell_ would Barbie still be interested in him unless he claimed it was an accident or…? Before I could even let my mind wrap around it, Newbie approached me frantically.

"How's Elliot?" he asked bluntly, his nerves obviously getting the better of him, "she left too quickly for me to ask what happened and…"

"She _seems_ fine, but that bruise on her wrist led me to believe otherwise."

Newbie reacted exactly as I expected him to—hurt, confused, anxious, and angered. I believe I may have even seen blinding rage swelling up, but of course instantly he seemed to have been trying to control that burning fuel behind his eyes.

"Would you check on her and ask her what really happened?" Maybe I sounded too concerned, but damn it all, I've seen things like this before personally with my own eyes, and it doesn't matter who you are, this shouldn't happen to anyone.

"Why would _you_ care?" he asked me coldly as his legs danced slowly, anxious to leave.

"Curious is all," I lied as a lump began forming in my throat. Why _did_ I care so much? It's not like I'm even _friends_ with her or anything. "Check on her for me, will ya?" I caved, I couldn't do it.

Newbie seemed taken aback by that somewhat, but I think he understood that I did care for her as a human being. "Yeah, of course I will. Why wouldn't I?"

"Just let me know, alright, Wendy? I'm sure Carla would like to know, too," I stated in a softer tone of voice than usual.

Newbie had a puzzled look on his face, but he shook it off and nodded anyway, walking off. "Later, Dr. Cox."

"Yeah," I mumbled.

As I walked into the break room after a long and uninteresting morning, I saw Blondie getting coffee. I stopped in my tracks and stared at her stupidly, trying to gain the courage to even approach her and ask her for myself. It wasn't normal of me to care about others much at all or get involved, but this time was different. There was nothing she could say that'd make me believe he didn't do it.

"Dr. Cox," uttered that neurotic, whiney doll, facing me now.

"Hey, Barbie, look—"

"I know what you're going to say and you don't have to say it because JD already asked me," she started quietly whilst droning, "and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him."

"Yeah?"

"Brian didn't mean to hurt me…," she started.

"But he did—"

"_Listen_ for a sec! After Brian apologized, he told me _why_ he did it," she screeched at a record breaking feat. Now, I just _had_ to hear this, that is, if my eardrums didn't pop from the massive decibels she was producing before I heard it.

"—and he told me he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and he suffered from an anger disorder, and that _something_ that happened earlier on that day had set him off that he was trying to hold back and he said that my voice got too high and set him off into mania and—"

"You're doing it…_now_," I informed her before my ears started to bleed out. That woman certainly had some impressive vocal chords—hell, she's her own personal dog whistle.

She stopped and gasped with her eyes protruded. She at last took a very deep breath and paused for only a brief moment to the comfort of my ears. "I'm sorry! _See_, that's what happens! When I start talking a long time, well, you _know_. I promised him that I wouldn't talk so long anymore, but then he said it was fine as long as he wasn't already aggravated or annoyed, or some form between those two and that he would try harder next time, and—"

"_BARBO_," I warned her as I threw my hands up, signaling for her to _stop_.

Immediately doing so, Barbie threw her hand over her mouth and looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "Oh _God_, I can't _stop_!" she shuddered and gasped.

I stared at her intently, sardonically saying, "Barbie, _listen_," I started slowly, "have you _ever_ considered the thought that he might _not_ be the guy for you that you have always fantasized about since you were twelve? Because _clearly_, he isn't _exactly_ the kind of guy you want to spend the rest of your life with. Especially not for _you_, because you've been here for _five years_ and you have _yet_ to control that brain-rattling screeching of yours or the volume of its intensity to a reasonably human level. If that guy goes off on you every time you do that after him having a bad day, _well_, after being in the hospital for so long, you'll just stop getting paid for those non-work related days your prince charming gave you because you just _couldn't_ leave him because he was oh, _so_ kind and affectionate to you all those many days you were together before ending up here with bruises and broken limbs! Do you see what I'm trying to get at here, Blondie! This guy is _wrong_ for you and I don't really know how to make it any clearer to you other than…you're just going to have to trust me on this! " I managed not to sound pleading, but I presented myself in a manner that I hoped would not cross her enough to be ignored, but of course, it did.

"Why should I have to listen to you when you don't even know Brian?" she started somberly, but I immediately interrupted.

"You, Barbie, barely know the guy yourself," I mocked.

"You know what? I'm sick and tired of all your ranting and raving and acting like the 'big cheese' around here because guess what? You're not and no one's buying it. If I have to stand here and listen to you telling me something pointless and annoying like I'm some eight-year-old who can't decide and fend for herself, I might as well just leave because you're not going to change my mind about him," she declared acrimoniously, not once taking her gaze from mine, something that astonished me the entire time. The girl had more balls than Newbie did.

Before I could get a word in edgewise, Barbie stormed past me in a whirl of blonde rage and frustration that nearly knocked me off my feet.

As I watched her walk from my sight, I couldn't help but to wonder if she was in some sort of trouble, whether she knew of it or not. I've never in my entire life have had more paranoid and anxious feelings than I did with her boyfriend, Brian. There was something about him that day that had me in some sort of uncomfortable mindset that seemed to hide heavily beneath his eyes—something that wasn't trustworthy, something that wasn't…good. I didn't know if my judgment was being hindered by sheer ignorance or logic, but something inside of me told me to try and convince Carla or one of her friends at least, to get her to understand that this guy is trouble whether she's happy with the idea or not. I could also be taking this way overboard, but it just seemed too suspicious to me for it being more than a temper tantrum he had once in a while.

Dear God, I've gotten myself _way_ too involved in Barbo's life.

I was on-call that evening when I realized I'd be seeing Newbie along with Juliet again. I did my best to avoid Barbo especially, but Newbie was like a bad itch that wouldn't go away.

"Dr. Cox—"

"Look, Gretel, whatever you have to say about Blondie, save it. I have more important things to worry about than—"

"I was just going to ask if you've seen Turk anywhere, he's supposed to be on-call tonight too, but obviously you have other things on your mind…," he mumbled while looking at me intently, suddenly looking at a file in his hands and just as quickly, looked back up at me warily.

"Does it look like I keep track of your _seemingly_ straight gal pal there, Lucinda? Oh, and for that little comment," I paused as I took one of the Janitor's cleaning utensils on a cart next to me and sprayed it on his face, not particularly caring about its toxicity. "That'll do."

"Careful, that's highly potent dissolving chemicals there," said the Janitor approaching from behind Newbie, then smiling, "oh, wait. It's Scooter. Nevermind then," he laughed as he carried on with his mopping of the linoleum floor.

Aggravated, I turned around towards the on-call room to leave the wailing Newbie to himself and to the Janitor's dry, witless humor as he reeked his havoc upon Gloria, but God, was it ever so refreshing to hear her pain and misery every once in a good while.

While walking down the hall, I noticed Barbo talking on her cell phone, most likely chitchatting with her _bipolar_ Romeo who she probably is setting up another date with.

"Why don't you just come to the hospital?" she asked curiously of Brian. Pretending like I was doing something, I went to a coma patient's bedside and began checking his vitals.

"If you're experiencing abdominal pains, dizziness, and lightheadedness, you should at least…," she trailed off, obviously being interrupted, "it could be something serious, possibly an Abdominal Aneurysm!" she frantically whined in almost a whisper. Pausing for a several moments, she finally gave in to his demand, "Yeah, okay, I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm on-call so I'll do what I can, okay? Just give me the address and I'll see if I can schedule you into at least a clinic, alright?" she assured him gently, her voice tapering off from evident exhaustion. "Love you, too." God, I could throw up.

In the on-call room, I laid and rested for a while as I thought about what Barbie was thinking. Could she really be that enthralled by him enough to consider the fact that it's odd, even for a person with a hospital phobia, not come in on what could have been something serious? What did she really think she was going to do, use her magic breasts on him?

Suddenly, I heard the sound of my ex-wife's expensive heels approaching. "Hark, Jordan, the Queen of Serpents arrives. To what do I owe this horror?" I said boringly, my usual facet drained from a long day of work whilst watching TV.

"Don't work so hard, you'll pull a muscle flipping through channels so much," she teased. Why, God, _why_?

"What now, woman?"

"I'm bored," she uttered plainly, "pants down and no eye contact, got it?"

I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Like I have a choice in the matter. Let's make this quick," I mumbled in anguish.

"You always do."

Damn that sexy bitch.

Lying on the bed as Jordan buttoned up, I looked out at the moon, unable to really see the stars because of the city lights. It was a lot less horrible out there than it was in here, and that was for _damn_ sure.

"You okay, honey? You seemed a little bit distracted during sex more than usual, is everything alright?" she said in almost a sincere and genuine voice of concern.

"Eh, just tired is all." It was the truth, today we were swamped with patients and I've been at it for a good eighteen hours now.

"Oh yeah, I don't know why, but that reminds me," she started interestingly, "that serial killer has been linked with several men that were reported to have last been with his victims, and they all seemed to have disappeared as well and there wasn't any record of them at all," she said as I turned my head towards her in interest, "the guy apparently changes his appearance each time as to not be indentified and has gone to great lengths to disguise himself. Each of these men appeared somewhat similar, but the actual guy they think looks quite a bit different," she paused for a moment, looking at me plainly.

I had to wonder though, seeing as though I forgot to ask her, "Why are you so interested in this guy anyway?"

She glared at me dully for a moment and sighed slightly, "Someone I knew from high school went missing a few weeks ago and was found in an abandoned cellar a day later. I wasn't close to her nor did I even talk to her, but it was interesting to find out what happened to her, I guess anyway," she ended as she crossed her arms. "I have a copied picture from a wanted poster of the guy that one of the victim's was with, you wanna take a look?" she asked inquisitively.

Without thinking, I nodded my head as she took her purse out from under her feet and dug through it, finally taking out a black and white copy of the photo. "Here," she said as she handed me the picture.

Although somewhat hard to make out, I examined the picture and the man's face. As I looked closer, I noticed something very familiar off the bat, and that was his distinctive round face. To my surprise, that wasn't what really caught my attention. It was his eyes. The same eyes as…

"Jordan."

"What is it?"

_Brian Summers_.

"I have to go, _now_."

"Perry, what's the matter?" she asked frantically.

_Oh God, no. Please, __**no**_.

"You need to tell me now," I demanded as I grabbed her shoulders firmly, staring her straight in the eye without blinking, "Are you sure this is the guy?"

She looked at me dumbly and almost fearfully at my grave expression and responded, "Yes! Perry, let me go!"

"Jordan…this guy…this guy is Brian Summers."

"Blondie's boyfriend?" she exclaimed, baffled as I let go of her.

_No, Barbie, no. Why didn't I follow my instinct? Why the hell didn't I see this coming?_

"He's going to kill her, Jordan, oh God…," I staggered as I put my hands behind my head in desperation. "The third day…it's the third day, Jordan. He's going to kill her," I angered as my voiced started to crack.

"That bastard—_he's going to kill her_."

* * *

_Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about…

* * *

_

_**Author's Notes: **__So that sums up the chapter with a pretty bad cliffhanger, darn it. I'm pretty sure each and every one of you are going to kill me the next chapter and I assure you, I am going to try killing myself too._

_Oh God, the end was really emotional for me, and speaking of, I can start by saying that the next chapter will probably be longer and it will take longer to write, so please be patient and don't jump the gun just yet on any assumption, cause this could really surprise you. I'm sure you've probably already figured out who the killer was before this chapter anyway. xD;_

_I really tried getting Dr. Cox to stay in character while being in distress as anyone with that kind of guilt on their conscious would act, but it was hard. -.-; I actually saw this ending in my head before anything while remodeling this dream into a story, because I felt that it was the backbone of the story. This story probably flows better than any I've ever written, mostly because it was plotted out and edited and thoroughly thought through on a piece of paper in EKG…xD; Boy, I'm an overachiever._

_Anyway, I need to get into bed so I'll start writing the fourth chapter tomorrow, goodnight and take care!_


	4. Tribulations

_**Author's Notes: **__Okay, so the last chapter was actually supposed to end with a little more angst but apparently it didn't, because I'm a horrible writer and anyway, it was better in my head. :P This chapter took me forever and a year to write and I had been ill and in and out of doctor appointments for tests and such (also forgot to mention at the end of Realizations I was in the ER) but luckily I didn't crap it up too much. x]_

_Okay, there is something I must get off my chest because I don't know why, but it wasn't until I was nearing the end of writing Realizations (probably because I wanted to use the Rihanna/Chris Brown reference) that I realized that Taylor Swift's "Love Story" wasn't released until 2008, making it three years __**after**_ _this story takes place…x-x;; I don't know how many of you noticed that or not, but it really bugged me after I realized it. Dx So forgive me, but the rant shall stay as is, it took forever to write in the first place. ^^;;_

_This chapter is going to be quite a bit longer than the last chapter (Fifteen pages compared to six…). Prepare. Anywho, this chapter switches from Perry and Elliot's POV and well…this is the climax of the story. This is also where I guess most of you will go insane mad because of the ending…most of you, anyway. I *really* had no other way to write this story other than this, so yeah…forgive and forget. :P I promise though, the next and final chapter will be worth the wait I should only hope…and oh yeah! I *slightly* merged Elliot's second POV (after…well, the first lyric, not to spoil :P) because I felt that it would work together better and since this is kind of Elliot's story, it gave her a longer narrative. :]_

_Well, enjoy, and here's popcorn for everyone *throws bags to each one of you*._

_**WARNING: **__This story I rated overall teen, but this particular chapter had some vulgar language in it that I should forewarn you about, you know, for the kiddies and whatnot out there…8)_

_*** = Flashback ;]

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_

"Perry, where do you think you're going?"

"I have to find her Jordan, before it's too late," I declared hurriedly in a voice I have never _once_ allowed Jordan to hear uttered from me, something I wouldn't permit anyone to hear from me ever again.

It was no surprise her face reflected those exact feelings I assumed she'd feel—shock and bewilderment. "Perry, do you even know where she's at?" she spoke mildly.

Standing there, I looked down at her disappointedly at the fact she made me realize I had absolutely _no_ idea where that bastard lived. "No," I uttered, "No I don't, I suppose," I broke, still absolutely pissed at myself and grief-stricken by this whole thing and by Barbie.

Why didn't I just follow my gut instinct and stopped this from happening in the first place? Why in the hell did I have to choose to be stubborn and let Barbie unknowingly drive off to her own death? I'm such a fucking_idiot_; I can't _believe_ I didn't realize this from the beginning. Even Newbie…damn it, I should have seen this coming; that bastard practically _screamed_ crazy from the start. Every telltale sign of his being should have let me_know_! It should have clicked the moment he didn't want to come to the hospital, the moment Barbie came in with that bruise on her wrist…_everything_ should have alerted me he was the killer!

"He gave Barbie an address earlier of where she'd meet him at over the payphone because he claimed he was too cowardly to show up at the hospital for her, but I _seriously_ doubt anyone else has that address," I mumbled exhaustively as I paced back and forth in front of Jordan with my hands glued behind my head in frustration and anger.

"If he's already got away with twelve murders, then what makes you think that the address he gave Blondie wasn't just some remote location to…you know…"

"Jordan, we can't think like that. We need to check Barbie's apartment for any kind of address book she may have and her phone records to locate the guy," I stated heatedly. Wait…this man must have been some sort of genius for going this long without getting caught, because he wouldn't be so moronic as to let someone catch onto his trail that easily. "No…you're right, he probably _has_ been covering everything up," I uttered in defeat as I sat back down, rubbing my temples stressfully.

Jordan caressed my shoulder while staring intently at the floor, her face void of any sort of emotion, and it wasn't just the Botox either. "We're going to need help. I'll call Blondie's friends and have them to meet us at her apartment pronto," she said as she began getting up and digging her cell out of her handbag.

"We don't have a lot of time, so Jordan, listen to me very carefully," I began as I stood up, taking hold of her arm, "I'm going on ahead of everyone and if you find the address, call me _immediately_. Have Newbie to look through Barbie's apartment since he's dated her and knows where the hell everything's at and have Carla and Turtlehead to search the area where Ms. Connor had collapsed," I spoke softly and firmly.

"I'm coming with you," she affirmed gravely, not once flinching or stirring.

Gripping her arm, I sighed and nodded. "No, Jordan. Listen to me—I want you and Newbie to leave Blondie's apartment as _soon_ as you're sure you can't find anything, alright? Go ahead and call the police and then after you search her apartment, I want you to take Jack and go to your mom's for a while," I ended sternly.

Slinging her arm from my grasp, she snapped and shouted, "What the hell do you think you're going to do, show up to play superhero and save the day? What the hell! You'll get killed, you moron!" Jordan bit her lip angrily and quickly lowered her head, trying to conceal the fact that she was almost crying.

"Jordan, I'll be careful. I'll drop you off on the way and I'll drive around the city looking," I said decisively. I looked at her and sighed, "I don't want you or Jack to get hurt. If for some reason I don't make it back…that means he'll probably come after you next." Suddenly, the situation finally sunk in for the both of us, well, not so much me as it did for her.

With the last chance she had at fighting back before she broke, she asked, "Wait…he doesn't even know me. Why would he come after me for?"

"He'll assume the people I'm around knew who he was and that would pose a problem for him, and you'll most likely be the first one he'd go for because I'm closer to you. He may also know about you from Blondie, too, which would help in finding you. Same goes for everyone at the hospital, alert them as soon as possible." Sighing heavily, I realized that there was no _way_ I was going to back out of finding Barbie, even if it meant my life. I _had_ to try to save her. "I just don't want to take any chances, so I want you to get Jack as soon as you can't find anything and go to your mom's."

Jordan finally broke as she looked at me helplessly, "Perry, you can't do this!" she yelled vehemently.

I can't really say that I've ever seen this side of Jordan, but I knew she realized I could die. She also understood that she wasn't going to change my mind about it either.

"I have to Jordan," I started impatiently, "we can't argue about this anymore and you can't stop me from at least _trying_ to save her." I looked at her as she nodded her head while dialing, trying to hold off the heavy tears to make it through the conversation as I changed out of my work clothes.

A few moments later after calling JD and Carla and finally the police, she mumbled, "Let's go," as she put the cell phone away. I knew she didn't want to accept it, but she knew that someone had to save her.

"Yeah," I mumbled as we both headed out the door.

It was really late. Going out into remote parts of the city wasn't exactly a hobby of mine, but Brian needed me. Still, I couldn't understand why Brian didn't just come to the hospital like everyone else did; I mean I _was_on-call, and he could ignore his phobias by at least visiting the clinic, can't he?

I walked up along the wobbly and rusted steps to his apartment because the main lobby was closed for the night. I'm not sure if it may have been because of my fear of heights, but it seemed like I was nine stories high already even though it was only a five story apartment complex. I tried not to look down so much because it made me nauseous, and I sure didn't want to do that to Brian and have him take care of _me_, the _doctor_, instead. I mean, how embarrassing would _that_ have been?

I finally reached the door to apartment number 24, the last apartment in the building. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was how old and rotted the door seemed and how the outside didn't appear to be cleaned in _years_. Why would he stay in a place like this for? Another thing that caught my attention was how trash and dust was everywhere on this level outside, even toilet paper hung from the planters that held dead vines shimmied up the sides of the place under the broken window next to the doorbell. Looking the opposite of me, I saw that there was graffiti painted and fading on the brick with strange gang symbols that looked decades old. Wait—it wasn't just this apartment, the entire place was a dump. As I looked beyond my reach, I could see busted windows from a distance with sheets softly dancing in the quiet night's wind as they fluttered over more graffiti and old chairs that were isolated and left to decompose. How could anyone _live_ like this?

"Hey, doll—" a coarse voice uttered from under me as I jumped and gasped, "—wha's a pretty thing like you doin' out this late in the night fo', 'specially at that rundown junk pile up there?"

I immediately leaned over the edge carefully and looked down, searching for the source of the voice and found an old man a story down with a cigar in his hand, eyeing me strangely but without contempt as his brow furrowed in curiosity.

"Um—I' m here to check on my boyfriend, he gave me the address to his apartment…maybe I'm at the wrong place?" I said warily as I walked down the steps cautiously to hand him the piece of paper I wrote his address on.

He gently took the paper from my grasp and looked over it, nodding in silent confusion. "It's the right address, but Baby Cakes, ain't nobody lived up in that fifth story fo' ova' thirty some years it been now," he began quietly as he looked up at me with his yellow and glassy bloodshot eyes, as if trying to let me know that I was crazy for even asking, "ain't nobody lived there since the Kessler murder's back in the mid-70's I do believe," he ended as he coughed from the cigar he was smoking on.

Blowing the smoke from my face, I asked curiously, "Murders? What do you mean?"

He grinned and took the cigar from his mouth and pressed it against the wall, extinguishing it whilst nodding. "It's quite the story. Yeah, I tell ya. Long about 1975 somewhere, they lived this family up in those apartments—big 'ol family. They wudn't the richest folk around, but you'd think they was with them many kids they had an' all that rent they were needin' to pay for 'em an' to take care of 'em an' all. Oh, they was some happy bunch'a kids, they were—all except fo' their ma, of course. She was strugglin' tah make ends meet, tah keep her marriage goin' and tah raise her family. You'd never thought she'd be capable of any wrongdoin' whatsoeva', but it got the lot of us when she'd gone and done what she'd a done. That very year, the whole family was ova' fo' Christmas dinna' an' she just snapped, just couldn't take it no more. She took the entire family out includin' herself with a butcha' knife that night. No one lived 'cept a boy of hers that managed to sneak out. It's a sad story, I tell ya, fifteen people died that night. Such a pity. 'N ever since then, ain't nobody wanted to live in that place after what happened there, they even some who claim it's haunted tah this very day," he ended grimly and reminiscently.

"Oh my God…that's horrible, I'm so sorry. Did you know these people?" I asked almost in tears. _Kessler_, why was that name familiar?

"Oh, not personally, I was just a newcoma' back then an' I really didn't get well acquainted wit 'em." He looked up at the floor above and sighed.

"Do you happen to recall the boy's name, or maybe what happened to him afterwards?" I asked him curiosity for having a sudden chill run up my spine when I heard only one got away, and something wouldn't quit nagging at me about it.

"The name was Michael Kessler. Nobody knows really, the last anybody heard of him, he was put into some sort of psychiatrics' ward fo' a long many a years it had scarred him so much," he said sharply as he looked back at me. "Yo' boyfriend must'a gave you the wrong address cuz nobody be livin' up there now," he said firmly as he put his hands in his pockets. "You best be gettin' on yo' way, girly, there are crazy folk out at this time o' night just a waitin' fo' a pretty young broad to come along n' prey on," he warned and nodded at me whilst walking away, "you best be careful now, y'hear?"

I smiled bashfully and nodded, "Yeah, thank you, I will," I mumbled quietly, almost to myself. Hey…my mom knew a few Kessler's when I was little…

While watching him walk back into his own home, I already agreed with myself that I was going to go ahead and try to knock anyway. I mean, I didn't want to come all this way for _nothing_ and then disappoint Brian if he was there…that would be _rude_. He could also be in trouble too…so I can't do that. Although, it seems like the guy was telling the truth when he said nobody had lived there in over thirty years, I mean, it _looked _like it. So why would Brian give me _this_ address to come to? Maybe I overheard him wrong?

As I started up the stairs, this sudden pain in the pit of my stomach erupted into something awful that made a lump in my throat. I'm not sure why it was now that I felt like I needed to run, but it was certainly an overwhelming feeling. I don't believe in ghosts, so it wasn't that. There was something else about this place that bugged me—how everything seemed so…_ominous_. Like something about this place screamed out that I needed to run, to get as far away as possible and I just couldn't figure out why. Why would I be feeling this way for? Didn't I trust Brian?

Before I could even answer myself, I was already absentmindedly knocking on the door. My heart started racing quickly as the most outrageous thoughts went through my head while I felt like I was being choked. Could I really be getting into something that I could be powerless to prevent? What if Brian isn't who he says he is? What if…

Suddenly as I stepped forward slightly, the door in front of me opened, only no one was standing there—just an empty, black room greeted me with a grim manifestation of shadows ahead.

* * *

…_her killer instinct tells her to be aware of evil men…

* * *

_

I jumped in alarm. Something didn't seem right as a chill went up my spine. There was _nobody_ there. When I started to lean back, I noticed a squeaking sound from up under my feet. I looked down and the floor board was loose next to the door's hinge, and it lowered down ever so slightly as I stepped off of it. So _that's_ what caused the door to open. It _was_ an old door after all. This entire place is old and out of date. Freaky coincidences aside, I wasn't in the mood to get a scare or spook from this place tonight, I just wasn't.

Hesitantly, I began to walk inside. There were no lights on. In fact, I didn't think there was any power either. The air in the room was frigid, obviously because of the broken windows that let in a draft. It was colder in here than it was out _there_. My feet seemed to sting with every cautious, creeping step I took. I looked around the room, hoping to see someone, or _something,_ anyway, just to let me know I'd be clear to go and not feel guilty if Brian was here…somewhere. Why would he stay in _this_ place for I wonder?

"Hello? Brian? Is anyone here?"

I noticed that the room was indeed furnished, but it wasn't anything of this century. Yellow, striped couches rested drearily against the wall with old tables accompanying them, and chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. There couldn't possibly be any _way_ Brian was staying here, unless he was lying about his income because he thought that I might have pitied him or broke up with him, which that wouldn't be the case at all…

_Creak_.

I jumped and gasped as my posture froze into place. That was an undeniable _footstep_. Please, oh, _please_ let it be Brian…

"Elliot,"

Thank _God_.

Somewhat relieved (somewhat?), I turned around to face him. The moon shone upon him, only being able to see his silhouette, I replied, "Brian! You had me worried and terrified for a second there! I thought that you gave me the wrong address and—"

"Terrified? What for," he started chuckling, "don't you trust me?" he asked me in a tone of amusement and sarcasm.

"_NOT_ of you, of course! But uh…yeah, Brian…why didn't you tell me that you were…_poor_? I mean, I would have understood," I choked out questionably as I looked around the room and straight back at him.

"I'm not, actually," he started, "I'm quite wealthy, to tell the truth." His voice seemed mocking which worried me a little bit.

I began warily, "What do you mean?"

"I don't live here. As a matter of fact, I don't even live anywhere in _or_ around this area," he spoke jovially.

"I don't get it, then why—"

"You really haven't figured it out yet?" he said as his tone dropped to a more casual falsetto.

Suddenly, everything inside of my body burnt as the intense heat went to my head and my heart skipped a beat. "What…?"

He stepped aside from the moonlight jaggedly, and every fiber of my being began to tremble at what was _not_ Brian Summers. His hair was the same color blonde as mine, as were his eyes. Brian had black hair and green eyes! But…they have the same voice, or at least, I thought they did…

"Who are you? You're not Brian," I questioned sneeringly. Oh God, what have I gotten myself into _now_?

"Actually, I am. I'm Brian Summers. I'm also Ian McCormick, Scott Tisdale, Jason Parsons, and Randy Toler," he grinned in a friendly way that was almost sinister. "As for my real name," he began, but suddenly paused as his hand slipped behind his back.

_Click_.

The door…he locked it. "My real name you already know," he smirked wistfully as he stayed in the same, good-humored tone of voice.

I glanced at him in almost disgust as I pondered about what he meant by that. "W-what do you mean?" I choked out fearfully as I slowly began to back up, because unless he was Charles Manson's son, I didn't know who the frick he was.

He smiled at me, but this time his facial structure crafted itself into a domineering, evil form. "Oh, you don't know? Well, I'll give you a hint," he started, his eyes glinting at me as he began approaching me gradually, "this used to be my home until a mad woman wrecked it with all the crazy she held inside of her for so long. I overheard yours and Mr. Anson's little conversation, by the way," he stated intensely as his expression changed from _happy-go-lucky_ to _I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass-bitch_.

I gasped as I suddenly and undeniably realized who he was. "_Michael Kessler_…" _No_! He…he's the _serial killer_!

"And you should've taken his advice and left while you had the chance, pretty girl," he mocked merrily as he suddenly darted towards me.

I promptly reacted by ducking and rolling to my left near a china cabinet, but he immediately kicked me in the stomach and rolled me over on the floor, quickly lifting me up with his strong, calloused hands as I struggled to scream. "You're not going anywhere, Blondie," he warned scathingly as he threw me against the wall with a thud.

Coughing, I struggled to sit upright while clenching my stomach and caressing my neck that was in searing pain. I then realized that I was lying in broken glass as I struggled moving around when it cut me. "Why are you doing this? Neither I nor any of those other girls you killed did _anything_ to you! You can't blame what your mom did on everyone else…," I strained saying, my voice brittle and very weak because of the strangulation.

He glared and smiled at me callously as he nodded, "No, I don't think you quite understand my dilemma, Elliot. You see, ever since my mother's outrage, her family and friends, mostly women, blamed it entirely on me because I was the youngest. It drove me mad. Then one day after being released from the psych ward, I ran into my 39-year-old aunt who threatened me when I was only fifteen and killed her, throwing her body into the beach near my apartment. I got away with it because they were never able to find her body or a suspect. From then on, I decided to just kill all the women in her family and all female friends, seeing as though they anger me the most. I only kill when I happen upon one of them and then I target them, and on normal time I'm the Michael Kessler you see before you," he paused and smirked, "and I've gotten away with it each time," he ended gravely as he never once took his glare from mine.

"You see, Elliot, I've known you for quite a few years now. I was once a patient at your hospital, by a name I didn't care to mention earlier. Christopher Hadley, I believe it was," he remarked as he flicked his nose, which got me to thinking of…

"_You're_ that patient that refused treatment when you fell off that bridge?" I asked him inquiringly in almost a whisper. I can't believe it, I _knew_ the guy beforehand?

He nodded, smiling while softly speaking, "You bet'cha."

I gazed at him in disdain and fear, uttering, "You refused care because you weren't who you said you were, am I right?" I stated solemnly. Why didn't I listen to Dr. Cox? He was only trying to warn me…

His grin widened as he spoke, "Obviously. At the time, I wasn't staying around this area, but I was passing by, still in disguise might I add, when I stumbled over that bridge into traffic because I'd dodged a car that almost ran into me," he stated indifferently and sarcastically.

"Boy, I wish it would have…," I whispered lightly in scorn.

"I overheard several conversations with your friends while visiting and when I discovered who you mother was, I was almost ecstatic," he stated casually as he began laughing. "Your mother's mother was a close friend to mine, but because of distance, I didn't bother going after her so quickly. Besides, what would be better than to see a mother's grief over her murdered child anyway? I'd say it was nearly three years ago at best this all occurred. I was going to approach you one day as Ian, but I realized you were staying with a friend, so I couldn't move in on my target. I marked you down on my list and left for Washington, but I came back three years later to see how my prey was doing. It turns out in the coffee shop you were also single and living alone, and I knew it was the perfect opportunity to move in on you," he gloated in almost a devilishly overbearing sense.

* * *

_Pretty girl is suffering while he confesses everything…

* * *

_

I suddenly loosened my posture and fell back into the wall in shock. "You…you were targeting me for three years?" I asked limply. I couldn't believe it. I had a crazy person wanting me dead for _three years_? I was just barely a Resident then…

"Yep, how does that make you feel?" he chuckled jubilantly.

My grandmother…yes, of course! The Kessler murder…it's all coming back to me. I was so little then when I was first told. But why would anyone murder families and friends just because one person's chemicals weren't balanced right in their brain and caused all of that? It made absolutely no sense! Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked at him in despair as I realized something. "Wait…does that mean that there was _more_ than twelve?" I mumbled quietly as I brushed shards of glass off my clothes nervously.

"In your area there were twelve…so far, anyway. You'll have made thirteen—lucky number thirteen. In total, I may have murdered about…70 women? I lost track somewhere down the road," he said heartlessly.

"You evil man—how could you do something _that_ despicable and not even _care_?"

"After a couple of slayings you get used to it," he gloated cynically. "I wanted to erase all traces of her existence in her female friends and one day, male if I ever get around to it. The women are my main concern at the moment," he snarled as he clenched his fists together, causing me to react and press my back firmly against the wall.

"So you've basically changed your identity each time you murdered and got rid of the evidence and started over? You're basically getting _revenge_ for what your mom did to you, and just because I'm related to someone you can't kill you target me instead, and should I mention the others? That makes absolutely _no_ sense! You're insane if you think you can get away with this!" I shouted in anger as I clenched my own fists.

He growled, furrowing his brow while he began pulling out something from the back side of his jean pocket—a _knife_. I winced as I realized I _had_ to run. I didn't have time to think, so I raised myself up and ran towards the window with a little burgundy chair next to it and grabbed it as he followed behind. I tried to pick it up to bust him over the head with it, but I was too slow. The knife lunged towards my stomach and penetrated me as I gasped in a weak scream that wasn't loud enough to hear from the outdoors and dropped the chair. Before I fell to the ground, I used up what strength I had left in me and kicked him in the crotch, causing him to drop the knife that I then grabbed as he bellowed out in pain. I clenched my stomach in agony as I took the chair with the knife hand and threw it out the window, causing the glass to shatter into millions of little pieces. Immediately, I made my descent out the window all the while avoiding cutting myself, although _that_ didn't seem too realistic in the first place.

I ran as fast I could run as I began gliding down the steps and on the rail, and I could hear him cursing as glass was being broken. I had to get away as fast as I could, and I couldn't even stop to get help. I glided down the stairs painfully and wobbled left and right as the turns seemed to curse my bleeding wound to the point it'd be so painful to move that I felt as though I needed to sit down. I ignored the sweltering pain and jumped down almost a story from the ground when I heard him running down the stairs. When landing, I was somehow able to avoid twisting or breaking my ankles or legs and began running from him. I stumbled several times as I made my way past dumpsters and cars in the alley, trying to make my path into main roads where crowds of people ought to have been. I could hear him not so far behind me as I panted and huffed, making my way towards the end of the alleyway.

It was expected but not at all wanted, because all of a sudden, I was unable to keep going any further and I fell down onto the concrete like a ton of bricks—my body had given out on me.

Every part of my body was sore, I was losing massive amounts of blood, and my breathing was becoming shorter. I had given up all hope. I laid there and tried to hold the blood off with my arms, but I knew that was no use unless I got medical attention immediately.

I heard him coming ever so closely towards me, and I closed my eyes and began to pray for a miracle. All I could hear was the footsteps getting closer, the wind, and a car engine…?

Suddenly, I opened my eyes to look out towards the opening of the main road. There, a red sports car was parked and a man got out of it with a look of distraught upon his face.

"Dr. Cox…?"

* * *

When I pulled up to Barbie's apartment with Jordan, I saw Newbie running down the sidewalk, approaching us quickly. Jordan got out of the car and ran around the rear and then approached my window where she met up with him.

"Good DJ, you're here. Go in and I'll be there in a second," she dictated idly as she looked at me regretfully. When she knew Janet was inside the apartment, she finally said to me, "Be careful, Perry. Don't do anything stupid, alright?"

I smiled at her, almost chuckling. "Aren't I _already_ doing something stupid?"

Jordan nodded and leaned in to kiss me for what I hope wasn't the last time. "Please come back, you moron." Her eyes watered but she somehow managed to hold it all in. I didn't really let the fact that I may actually die sink in yet because I _needed_ to be strong for Jordan...and for Barbie. I knew that I was the only one able to save her, even if Gandhi and Carla were to find her, what could they have done? They didn't have any weapons, and even if they did find her, how much time did we really have? What if he spotted them? Scalpel Jockey would undoubtedly protect Carla first and foremost, and I certainly wouldn't want to put her in _that_kind of danger. Somehow, I just knew that they wouldn't be anywhere near that park and that's why I sent them there, so I could have the remainder of the city for myself to search over.

"Wish me luck," I mumbled as I began to pull away. From the rear view mirror, I could see Jordan standing there in almost a lifeless daze as she watched me ride off, staring at me for what may have been the last time she'd ever see me alive. I didn't want it to be that way. I just didn't, but I knew that either way I was going to come face to face with that bastard and I knew that someone was going down. Above all else, I wanted to save Barbie, even if it would cost me my life. I didn't mind killing in situations like these. I couldn't just let her die, not while I knew what I felt and may have subconsciously known from the beginning of all this. I just_couldn't_ let anything happen to her, not while I could have kept this from happening. If I had only intervened when she came into work with that bruise earlier…

As I drove around any and all barren areas and low-grade communities, I started thinking about why I didn't take any of those warning signs seriously and just ignored them like I did. Could it really have been because I didn't want to show that I actually _cared_? Am I _that_ much of a prick? Sure, I'm not the first guy you'd go to for emotional advice, or any sort of advice really, because I'm just not _that_ go-to guy. I should have just acknowledged sooner what was wrong, and when she came to the hospital with that bruise, I should have tried to end that relationship right then and there.

I reached for a box up under my seat while keeping my speed steady. I pulled it out onto my lap and took the lid off of it. "I never thought I'd ever have to use this puppy," I said lowly to myself. It already had bullets in it and was ready for use. I took the gun holder out as I placed the box back under the seat and put it on safety, strapping it on the side of my jeans.

Suddenly I was jerked from my thoughts when my cell phone rang—it was Jordan. "Hello?"

"_We can't find anything, we've searched the place inside out and we still can't find an address_."

"That's no surprise…but Jordan, tell Newbie what I had said earlier and get the hell out of there, the police should be on their way and I want you to go to your mom's, and I want you to pick Jack straight up from daycare, you got that? I—"

Suddenly I had another call coming in. "Carla's calling, so I need to go—"

"_I love you, Perry_," she said as her words slightly broke, keeping a steady tone.

Her words seemed to bite into me, but in a good way that had left me off guard for a moment. "Love you, too." I meant it, too. If I was to make it out of this alive, I'm sure as hell going to start working on trying to be a more perfect father and ex-husband…okay; maybe I _was_ going to die after all.

I answered the beep. "Find anything?" I asked impatiently.

"_Not yet, we've circled around the park and couldn't find anything, and we've asked people if they've seen her but we've got nada. I take it that you haven't found anything yet since you asked __**me**__._"

"As much as I hate to admit it, but yeah, I have a better chance at this point of finding Bin Laden in a garbage can somewhere than finding Barbie because I have absolutely _nothing_ to go on in a city this big. She could be anywhere."

"_Don't beat yourself up over this; nobody could have known he was the killer. Just because you had rational, instinctive paternal feelings towards the guy with Elliot didn't mean that feeling was telling you he was some sort of __**murderer**__. It's not your fault and it's not anybody else's fault either_," she assured, trying her best to comfort me with her soft, motherly hen voice that did somewhat heal me emotionally, "_and I'm sure that wherever Elliot may be, she's smart enough to run away from this dangerous situation anyhow_…," her voice trailed off contritely.

I knew that our hope of finding her was fading by each passing moment—our voices and outlooks reflected that. "The only chance we have now is if some greater force, or hell, _God_, was to intervene, and what are the odds of _that_ happening, really?" I said spitefully. I was so pissed at the big man right now that I could move a mountain with all this anger.

"_Don't give up on miracle happening, Turk isn't_," she said softly, "_we'll find her somehow. I just know we will_."

"Carla, miracles _don't_ happen," I said bitterly as my grip tightened on both the wheel and the phone.

"_I know you're upset, but_—"

"Carla, get the police over to Madison and Fifth—now."

I hung up the phone immediately, but not at what she was about to say. It was more or less what, no, _who_ I saw in front of me not even 500 feet off in the distance as I braked and began panicking.

_Elliot_.

"_**ELLIOT**_!" Dr. Cox screamed in panic and fright as I watched him run towards me. He saw Michael behind me.

Did he say my _name_? "Dr. Cox!" I yelped out weakly. Dr. Cox stopped almost fifteen feet from me when I heard a click from directly above me. I was too afraid to look up, so I just kept my eyes on Dr. Cox.

I couldn't believe it though, Dr. Cox of all people? Maybe it isn't so strange he showed up, but with the way he was acting towards my previous relationship with 'Brian', I just thought…

Did he really _care_ that much about me?

And that's when I saw the gun strapped next to him.

I already knew when I heard that click that Michael had a gun on him, but thankfully Dr. Cox did too…yet, at the same time, I wasn't so happy about it. I just couldn't see Dr. Cox hurting anyone that way…

"You're too late," Michael avowed in grandeur.

Dr. Cox saw my injury and he gasped, "You bastard, I'll _**kill**_ you," he uttered out in rage.

Michael smirked and chuckled, and I gathered up the courage to look at him—he was aiming the gun towards my head. "Never thought we'd meet again, certainly not like this—I wasn't anticipating any company," he declared surprisingly in a bright tone. Suddenly though, his tone went down a notch, "I _really_ didn't want to get _you_ involved. I really liked you at that bar, seeing as though we both shared the same hate against young Elliot here. It's actually surprising that you're here, really."

Dr. Cox grimaced and growled, "I don't fucking _**hate**_ her, you bastard! Don't you _dare_ act like you know me!" He took the gun from his side and immediately aimed it towards him. "You're number's up, ya prick! The police are on their way and you aren't going _anywhere_," he shouted, his eyes never once leaving mine. I knew he took the fact that he was aiming a gun at my head into consideration, so I assumed he had a plan. I could only hope…

"Do you honestly think you can pull a trigger faster than I can? I'm almost certain you've never did anything like this before, and surely not _nearly_ as much as I have," he blustered out in rage. Suddenly, that friendly demeanor had vanished. Things were now getting desperate.

"Oh, I know you can pull a trigger faster than I could, I'm no moron. The thing is—you're _not_ killing the girl. Not over my dead body," he dared him, whose gaze was now meeting his.

_**No**_, he _can't_ do that—! "Dr. Cox! You better not be asking him to shoot _you_ instead! Get out of here! It's too late for me, just go, _please_!" I pleaded feebly, but I knew it'd be in vain. He'd…he'd _die_ for me? No, Elliot, don't cry…please, don't cry…

"I'm not going anywhere," he said gravely as he held out the gun motionlessly, starring him unflinchingly in the eye.

"Dr. Cox…_please_! He'll kill you! I'm going to die anyway, just _go_!" Why is he doing this? I didn't want him to _die_ over me! Why won't he just _GO_! I've already lost too much blood and I'm getting lightheaded…!

He ignored my plea, of course. "So, what's your story, pal? 'Cause you've honestly got something wrong with you when you target innocent women who didn't do a damned thing to you," he asked curiously, his voice still remaining in a somber tone as he continued to meet Michael's sinister gaze. He's stalling for time, is that it? Obviously, Michael hasn't caught on…

"Since I'll have to kill you anyways, I suppose I can fill you in," he started, never once letting his guard down, "the name's Michael Kessler, son of Deana Kessler who murdered her family, I escaped obviously. Ever since, my goal was to erase any and all traces of her family and friends for good starting with the women. I've gotten away with at least 70 slayings and 'disappearances.' For this area, Elliot here will be lucky number thirteen…,"

"What the _hell_ does that have anything to do with _Elliot_?" he asked irritably. Did he just say my name…_again_? He's never _once_ called me by my actual name…

"Simple, really—she's in relations to my mother, well, her grandmother anyway. She's long been dead, so when I first learned of her mother, it was almost around the same time I met Elliot, about three years back at Sacred Heart, actually," he stated.

"Wait, what do you _mean_? You've been _inside_ of the hospital _and_ have known her for _three years_!" Dr. Cox hissed crossly, just as confused as I was.

"Yes. I've targeted her that long, too. Since her mother lives so far away, I just decided that I would cause her deeper pain until I was able to reach her by murdering her sweet, precious daughter while I had the opportunity," he reveled.

"You're one fucked up individual, that's for damn sure," Dr. Cox scowled.

"On the contrary!" he chuckled. "Nevertheless," he pressed the gun up against my head as I yelped slightly, "I need to end this before someone sees us here, and I can't be spoiled over you or anyone else, can I?"

Michael smiled devilishly as he looked at me and then back at Dr. Cox. "I think I know who I'm going to finish off first," he declared as he pointed the gun back towards Dr. Cox, and every part of me died inside as I watched helplessly, not being able to do anything to stop him from pulling that trigger.

* * *

_And the man with the golden gun thinks he knows so much_

_Thinks he knows so much...

* * *

_

"It's best if she lives with this image in her last moments as her _mentor_ is murdered in front of her very eyes," he cackled cynically.

As I watched while slowly losing consciousness, I saw that Dr. Cox's expression remained frozen as was, but he looked at me. His eyes were almost completely cloudy and…was that tears I saw forming? They weren't for himself, either…they were for _me_. For me, the Barbie doll from Connecticut…a colleague of his for five years...not a protégé like JD…but maybe…his precious Barbie doll that he was losing? Suddenly, the image of him punching Kelso in the face for me was stuck on repeat and wouldn't stop. At the time, I didn't take it into consideration that it may have been more than a friendly gesture, but now…now that we were both facing our demise, it suddenly became clear. In his own weird and _Coxian_ way, he was trying to show me he cared and that he looked out for me like his own _daughter_. Like I was his little girl he needed to protect, to die for, like now…and I couldn't lose him.

I couldn't do anything but lay and watch him be murdered in front of me for _my_ stupid mistakes he was only trying to _warn_ me about! And now, his blood was going to be shared on my hands…why couldn't I have just listened to him and JD? Why? I should have known if Dr. Cox was going out of his typical mannerisms that it must have been something significant he was trying to show and warn me of, but _no_, I didn't listen like the foolish girl I was and ignored him as always. And now, he was going to die for that stupidity…the very thing he tried so desperately to stay clear of from me, and he just threw himself in like that, even though he should have known there was no hope of rescuing me, unless he…no…he couldn't have thought…thought that him dying for me would…

"I'm sorry Elliot that I couldn't save you…but damn it all if I don't give it one last shot…," he mumbled in remorse, my eyes beginning to widen as he flexed his arm out further towards Michael, at a clear attempt of killing him before he did as tears ran down his face.

All of a sudden, unconsciousness was gripping me stronger than ever, and with the remaining strength I struggled holding on to, the last thing I would try to see was his regret and the gun, and then…the synchronized gunshots.

* * *

_Somehow I know that we can't wake again from this dream,_

_It's not real, but it's ours…_

_Maybe tonight we'll fly so far away,_

_We'll be lost before the dawn.

* * *

_

_**Author's Note**__: So, should I just go ahead and kill myself now or wait for you all to do that? Now, I'm going to be clear when saying that when I meant God-awful cliffhanger, I meant GOD-AWFUL CLIFFHANGER. I'm SORRY! O.o; Hell, I doubt that Cliff from Between the Lions could hold onto this one…cereal…_

_I'm so SORRY that this took so long! Really, I've been in such a rush to get this finish I shirked reading the latest chapter of Bells' __**My Captain **__just to get this chapter out of the freaking __**way**_…_RLY! So, you all should know that there is one last chapter left and the next chapter will be…well, a __**lot**_ _easier to write than this one has been. This chapter, I have to say, has been the most difficult thing for me by far, and I feel I __**still**_ _didn't get that intense emotion I wanted up until the very end like the last chapter…blegh. Practice makes perfect, you know, but I'm far from that obviously!_

_The only thing I'm telling you about the next chapter that it will explore deep inside of Elliot's mind (beware, I'll probably screw it all up because her brain is like a rubics cube…or whatever…) and that's all I'm saying. My intention for this chapter was to finally piece together for the two of them their feelings for one another that are on a father/daughter level that I've felt hasn't surfaced nearly enough on Scrubs to the point it almost doesn't exist. I know it's there, especially after that episode where Perry punches the lights out of Kelso…I was trying to establish something that has been bugging me for some time. I'm not even particularly fanatic over Elliot…I don't love or hate her; I just like her more than average. xD I'm not sure, it's just one of those miniscule things that bother me._

_Anyways, forgive me for the long notes, but I hope you weren't disappointed because of the wait and that it was worth it…*sighs*. The next chapter won't take me __**nearly**_ _as long…well, that is, if I don't hit up my doctor's again. :P I'm going to rest for tonight…I have homework but of course I forgot it…oh well, I phail in Biology anyway. :P Goodnight y'all. 3_

_PS - I know I said I was using Pretty Girl as the lyrical ambiance for the story, but this chapter had two things that screamed out to me whilst listening to these songs on the vocational bus, the first being __**Cornflake Girl**__ by __**Tori Amos**__ and the second and last being __**Before the Dawn**__ by __**Evanescence**__. Just thought you'd wanna know what went through my head and the mood of this chapter. ;]_


	5. Revelations

_**Author's Notes: **__I'm so sorry everyone that I've been gone for like a month, but I promise you I've been working on this the entire time I was on the computer! I hope that this chapter lives up to the expectations of everyone and was hopefully worth the wait—this chapter changed ENTIRELY from the rough draft I made when I first conceived the idea of the story. In some ways, it changed for the better._

_The reason for my absence was because I had been in and out of the doctor and I've been very ill lately with pains, sickness, you name it. A lot of things have been happening recently, including finals and the 'big' test every school has each year (I can only assume) and it's been hectic._

_Also, concerning the poll on my profile, the results are in—you'll kill me if I don't write "My Fandom," a one-shot about how the staff of Sacred Heart would react if they (JD mainly) came across . o.0 Since I don't want to die, I guess I AM going to write it, but it'll be a while before I actually get started. I'm going to plot it out onto paper and work with it, and I'm going to rest some because I have been writing non-stop while I have been on the computer. X_x;; After it's submitted, I'm going to take a break and maybe brainstorm some with ideas (most likely rough ideas from dreams and song inspirations), and hopefully improve my writing. That's why I encourage everyone to critique me at the very least—it's really helped me improve so far, and I thank all of you so for that!_

_Also, I want to shout out to Bells of Tomorrow— you're one of my inspirations. Thank you so much, I don't think I'd ever get back to writing fanfiction, especially in the Scrubs category if it weren't for you and your awesome stories. So original, so creative. *cries* Thank you!_

_Everyone, please enjoy the last chapter and thank you all SO much for reading. :D_

* * *

"How much blood loss was there?"

"There was a significant amount, enough to keep her in the ICU for a few days maybe."

_My head ached..._

"She's _seems_ alert."

_Those voices …where was I?_

"Elliot, can you hear me? Elliot?"

_Carla…?_

"Elliot, if you can hear us, move something,"

_JD? Alright…I moved my fingers._

"Good, she _is_ alert," the voice from above exhaled in relief.

_Turk? Am I at the hospital?_

"Carla, go check on Jordan, will you?"

"Yeah, okay. See you guys later," she exhaled hastily in a somber tone as I heard her run off.

_Jordan? Wait—where's Dr. Cox?_

"Elliot, we'll make sure you're alright, okay? Hang in there for us."

_I was trying, JD, really, I was, but…what happened?_

"She's lucky she's not dead," sighed Turk.

_What do you mean 'dead'?_

"Yeah, I guess it was just lucky that Dr. Cox was there…," JD's voice broke, choking slightly.

_Dr. Cox…_

_Oh, right._

_I remembered._

_Brian—I mean, Michael. Why did it take so long for me to remember? Dr. Cox…he tried to save me. Michael stabbed me…Dr. Cox tried to rescue me…they both had guns, aiming at one another. Then it was blank…nothing, I couldn't remember anything after that...I must have passed out._

_Oh, __**God**__. Dr. Cox…_

It took all the strength I had left in me to find out what happened. I asked, almost inaudibly and weak, "W…where is…Dr….C-Cox?" The pain alone ended the sentence as I shuttered slightly, my stomach in infuriating pain.

Thankfully, they took notice to the fact that I was attempting to open my eyes after I spoke.

JD turned around from my chart and looked at me in almost a lost sense of hope, his eyes full of unshed tears as he garbled out, "Elliot…you need to rest."

Turk looked at JD and gulped, "He's here Elliot, don't worry…," he mumbled out. "I guess I'll go check on him."

JD acknowledged him and nodded, immediately turning back towards me, absolutely fixated on my injuries. "Don't worry Elliot, you'll be fine," he said softly in a heartbreaking voice as he began walking away.

_What was up with them? They almost acted like…_

"Dr. Cox…," I whispered painfully as I began to drift off once again.

* * *

_The sounds of the springtime surrounded me and I began to open my eyes. I could hear many, many wonderful sounds all around. From the looks of it, I was by some sort of lake in mid-spring. An ethereal glow surrounded the lake and the field of flowers across from me as I stood beneath a blossoming willow. I felt no pain in that place, nor did I feel any hate. It was calming, the trees swaying to and fro as the wind picked up, the birds chirping, singing me sweet songs that I could have practically sung to. Everything here made me want to stay and never leave._

_But I couldn't do that._

_I remembered I needed to find Dr. Cox, wherever he may have been, to see if he was safe… if he was alive._

_I began wandering around the vast landscape, calling out his name, hoping that he would hear me. I needed to find him. I needed to know what happened, and thank him for everything, and to apologize for being so moronic—I should have known better._

_Suddenly before my very eyes, the bright and euphoric landscape turned into a gloomy, dead scene, just like from a horror movie. The sky faded to a dreary red shade with gray clouds that loomed overhead, the water dried up and the beautiful flowers withered as the trees became lifeless and hollowed away. My heart began to race as a very miserable and unnerving feeling overwhelmed me, agony overtaking my nerves. Then, I heard a soft, almost inaudible whisper pulsate across the fields and it began overtaking me._

_"__**Elliot, wake up.**__"_

_The voice…it…_

_"__**Wake up.**__"_

_It was Dr. Cox's.

* * *

_

I woke up, my head facing directly upwards at the ceiling tile and the light that glared on me caused me to squint. I quickly rolled my head over next to me to confirm the voice, but I was sorely disappointed to see that it was _not_ Dr. Cox waking me from my nightmare, but instead I found Carla hovering above me.

In a painful attempt at trying to say something, Carla had stopped me. "Elliot, don't use up your energy. Just listen," she began gravely.

"Elliot…I'm sorry that I didn't see all the warning signs there like JD and Dr. Cox did…," she broke into tears, "I was so damn busy with work that I let my rational side take over because I didn't want to believe it, either! I know—I know we couldn't have really known, but I _saw_ that bruise too, Elliot—I saw that bruise, and why I didn't take any action is _beyond_ me! You know how I am—you _know_ that, but I _didn't_! I didn't even care to ask, and Elliot, I'm _sorry_! I'm sorry that this had to happen to you and Dr. Cox, and I wish I could just take it all back and redo it but I _can't_, and I _hate_ myself for that! I hate myself that you and Dr. Cox had to get hurt! I know…I know that I'm probably getting ridiculously upset over this, but Elliot, I feel _responsible_ because I saw what he did to you! JD told me what you said really happened and I…I _died_ inside, because I thought…I thought if you were to die, I don't think I could ever _forgive_ myself! I don't know what was wrong with me, I really, _really_ don't…Elliot, please forgive me for being so naïve and selfish…I'm _sorry_."

Through that entire tearful speech, I doubt that I blinked. I wanted to so much to tell her that it wasn't her fault and that it was mine but I really had no energy to, and that pissed me off. I couldn't shoot her down for saying those things…I didn't want her to live with guilt she shouldn't even have! I already knew she was swamped with work, and I didn't mind her unusual moods, but her blaming work for her absent maternal instincts was over the line for me, considering the circumstances, anyway.

After Carla regained control of herself, she hugged me and told me that I would pull through this and she'd be back later and that she was going to check on Dr. Cox.

That made me relieved because I knew he was still alive. Hurt, but still alive, and I only hoped he wasn't worse off than I was…otherwise…

The moment Carla left the room, Turk walked in with a look of distraught upon his face. "Hey Elliot," he greeted softly. He took the seat next to mine and sat down slowly, and began to nuzzle his head into the palm of his hands and sighed repeatedly. "What a sick bastard…," he began after a very uncomfortable silence. "Elliot, that's horrible what happened to the two of you…I'm really sorry. You know if I could have been there for you, I would've, you know that, right?"

I glanced over at him in confirmation, because I knew in my heart that they would all have been there if they were able to be.

"You know, not a lot of people could live through situations like that. Then again, you _are_ Elliot Reid…," he trailed off, but almost immediately he began to chuckle lightly, "you have the worst luck of anyone I know!"

I smiled lightly, because it was true—I really _did_ have some of the most unluckiest things happen to me in my life, from my childhood to college, to my days after college and then to working at Sacred Heart—there was always bad luck waiting for me around the corner.

"I say you'll be out of work for at least a month of recovery, probably longer," he stated. Turk and I really didn't talk all that well, but I could tell he was _trying_ to make conversation.

"Yeah…I really don't know what to say, because if I keep saying sorry, I'm going to feel like a broken record if I do. I hope you recover fast and I guess I'll check on you later," he ended as he leaned over and hugged me, and then began walking away.

As I saw Turk exit the door, oddly enough, I already felt somewhat better emotionally. I liked that someone was at least talking to me.

Then I got the biggest surprise of my life—Kelso walked in not long after Turk left.

I'm sure he was disappointed that he lost one of his workers temporarily (hopefully not permanently), but I didn't really care. I just didn't want to be alone anymore.

"Dr. Reid," he began softly as he sat down.

I glanced over at him, watching as he tried to summon the words to say.

"There are terrible people out there and I'm sorry that you had the chance to meet one of them and end up like you did, but you're lucky. There could have been long term injuries, it could have been fatal, but it didn't turn out that way, now did it? I'm impressed, really. Impressed with Perry—impressed with _you_. I'm surprised, too. Needless to say I didn't expect him to run mindlessly into the middle of danger like that for anyone really. _But_, at the same time, it doesn't surprise me either—he's always been a big pansy, and deep down he really _does_ care about other people. That's one of the reasons why I respect him as a person, hell, as a _doctor_, even though he constantly hands my ass over to me time after time again. I honestly expected in a situation like the one that occurred last night he'd only do something _that_ extreme for Dr. Dorian, certainly not for you. That's what surprised me the most. Maybe I'm wrong about Perry…but it's amazing the both of you are alive right now, even though he's in somewhat of a more critical condition than you are. But I wouldn't worry about it, the sad fact of the matter is he'll _never_ die as long as I'm alive and running this hospital. I mean, who would keep me in line and kick my ass around this place when I screw up or when I'm not thinking clearly?"

I couldn't believe the words that came out of Kelso's mouth. It was pure, genuine concern over _me_. To see that softer and sincere side of him was almost breathtaking, and I was sure it would most likely _never_ happen again, at least not during work. Kelso's soft voice and expression seemed calming, but the fact that he said that Dr. Cox was worse off than I was worried me, and I think he could sense it.

"I wouldn't worry about Perry. Now, you get plenty of rest, you're going to need it," he said as he began getting up whilst smiling.

Of course, I wasn't getting away with the recent shift-switching I had been doing.

Kelso leaned over next to my ear and began softly but in a serious manner, "When you come back to work, you better expect to make up those hours you blew off for _Murder, He Wrote_."

I smiled hopelessly and looked at him, the both of us exchanging a friendly expression. "Take care and I'll see you at work ASAP," he said as he began walking off.

I seemed to sink deeper into the bed as I realized I would be working myself to death over nothing. All that time I spent with Brian and to end up like this—_frick_! I was so dangerously close to giving up guys all together that it wasn't funny!

Life sucks, life sucks, I _hate_ my life, _I hate my life_…frick, frick on a fricking stick—_**FRICK**_!

Snapping out from my self-loathing, suddenly and to my surprise, the Janitor bashfully walked in and I smiled.

"Elliot," he stated as he nodded shyly. I could tell he wasn't good at being sincere and comforting in the way he needed to be, but he actually seemed genuinely worried about me—how sweet!

He stood there in complete and utter anger as he gripped the broom he was currently holding in his hands tightly and furrowed his brow. "I know that there aren't a lot of things I can say to make you feel better, but…I'm real sorry that this happened to you, Elliot. When I heard what happened last night, I got scared," he looked down and loosened his tone and expression and chuckled lightly, "yeah, I know, that sounds really weird, right?"

"I felt like I couldn't do a damn thing to help you, and you were always so nice to me, you know? I mean, I had a few ideas involving an army of ninja squirrels and a gas tank for revenge, but I couldn't exactly put them into effect, and Troy was off today so the gas tank bit was out of the question."

"_Anyways_—I'm sorry. If I knew where the guy was, I wouldn't hesitate to shove this broom right up his skinny white ass, but I _don't_ know where he is," he sighed, then lying the broom against the wall as he bent over and began to pull out something from a white plastic bag lying on the floor, along with several others lined up next to his, and he smiled as he unraveled it. "I was going to give you one of my army of stuffed raccoons, but I got this for you instead because the black surgeon said it would, quote, 'creep you out', unquote," he chuckled and saw my stare of confusion and smirked, "yeah, that's what I thought, too…'_creep you out'_…_please_," he mocked, and suddenly the gift became visible in his hands.

My eyes fluttered and a smile stretched across my face when I saw a very cute and adorable teddy bear with ribbons and a little peach dress being handed over to me. I could barely move my body from it being so sore, so the Janitor placed the bear next to my head and he blushed slightly. "I know it's a little corny, but what the hell, right?"

I was so utterly and completely overjoyed with gratitude and kindness that I said, despite the aching, "I…love it, Janitor…thank…you."

He patted me on the shoulder and smiled, "Hey, don't try to talk now, alright? Just enjoy the silent company of Pepper," he paused briefly, "yeah, I named her. Hope that's alright with you," he stated sincerely.

I nodded whilst smiling and rested my head up against _Pepper_. To know that there were people here that cared about me this much, _including_ the Janitor, was certainly the jaw dropper for me. I felt such a warm and intense feeling in my heart that I actually started to swell up a little.

This, unfortunately, surprised the Janitor in a negative way. His expression became fairly frantic as he uttered, "What? Is something wrong with Pepper? 'Cause I can, you know, take her back and—"

"Janitor!" I exclaimed weakly as my throat throbbed in pain. I looked up at him in bliss and happiness as I cuddled the bear further to show him that I thought this was the perfect gift. "Thank you…," I mumbled out dryly.

The Janitor smiled and blushed even more so than before. "Well, I guess that's it for me then. I better get back to '_work'_," he joked as he stepped back and nodded at me. "Take care."

I smiled at him and mouthed '_goodbye'_ and later was finally able to turn my body on its side as my face rested against Pepper. I was so worn out again that I found myself drifting back into slumber.

* * *

_I was standing on a pier with an umbrella in hand. Beyond the horizon I could see the sun setting amongst rain clouds scattered across the distance. The sun just faintly shone through them. I looked down and noticed that the wood was wet and the sea was becoming calmer by the second. I took a deep breath and blinked._

_I was dreaming again._

_I looked around and behind me, and the pier was…in the middle of the sea. The sea stretched back so far into the distance that I couldn't see any sign of land within eyeshot._

_The wind whipped at my hair and sent a gentle chill down my spine as I used my free hand to grip the wooden rail in front of me. I swallowed hard._

_Why was I there?_

_I felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. The roaring waves of the sea from the recent storm seemed to make me feel almost nauseous. I couldn't hear a single thing other than waves crashing against the pier._

_It was too quiet._

_There were no seagulls. There weren't any boats to be found. No people around. There was nothing but me and this pier in the middle of the sea._

_Suddenly I felt a chill run down my spine. I couldn't move as I heard someone approaching me from behind._

_Without looking, I could feel them leaning gently against my right ear as they began to speak in a soft but rough, baritone voice._

_"My sea is deeper than your lake."

* * *

_

I immediately sprung up while gasping after my shocking dream and quickly fell back into my bed in stabbing, agonizing pain.

Oh, right—my stomach.

"Elliot!" a voice from beyond the door called out frantically.

Making their way in sight, I realized it was JD who I heard and he alone. No one was out in the hall except for him.

"Elliot, are you okay? I heard you screaming," he asked anxiously as he quickly held onto my bedside.

Still in searing pain, I nodded. "Bad dream…," I stumbled out weakly.

JD looked at me and nodded. "I'm going to increase your morphine drip, alright? Hopefully you'll be talking better later. Now, get some rest and don't make any sudden movements, you're pretty banged up, aside from what _was_ a gaping hole in the middle of your abdomen…," he stated as he looked downward, intentionally away from any eye contact between the two of us. "Turk did your stitches, by the way, and it went well," he said, coming to a slight pause as he looked up at Pepper, "hey, who gave you that bear?"

Involuntarily, I began to smile, and I nuzzled my head closer to Pepper. "Janitor," I uttered feebly.

JD furrowed his brow in bewilderment and tilted his head sideways, entering into another one of his fantasies. He obviously wasn't going to respond to that; he was too busy thinking about stupid reasons of why the Janitor was a horrible person. What kind of a horrible person gives a gift, something that's _totally_ outside of their comfort zone, to someone they hardly _knew_?

"H-How's Dr. Cox?" I slurred out softly. I needed to know what his condition was…

Somehow, I broke JD out of his own imagination and was met with stillness and a gaze of dread. "I'm going to check on him now," he uttered out lifelessly.

In what almost seemed like a haze, JD walked off quickly without even saying goodbye to me. What was that all about?

Most importantly, what the hell was up with everyone avoiding giving me any straight answers?

Exhaustively and hopelessly, I nestled my head into Pepper's and attempted yet again turning over on my side. By the time I actually got into a comfortable position, I was in such pain that I became completely worn out. I snuggled Pepper closer to my face and began to cry silently to myself.

Was Dr. Cox going to die?

God, I'm so tired…maybe if I just rest my eyes for a little bit…

"Crying doesn't look good on you, you know."

Opening my eyes slowly, I could see Dr. Cox standing in front of my bed with a kind grin stretched across his face.

Yes! He was _alive_!

"Dr. Cox!" I shouted painfully in delight. I gasped a little and uttered, "How…how long were you standing there?"

He smiled faintly back at me and chuckled, "Just got here, princess."

I smiled back at him, but I then noticed he was clutching his side. "Dr. Cox…!"

He seethed in pain as he struggled taking a few steps forward to sit in the chair next to my bed. He was wearing regular clothing with one of his tight shirts, and I was able to see the bandages wrapped around his thick abdomen.

"Don't worry about me, there, Bar—I mean Elliot, I'll be fine," he corrected himself in a manner that not only surprised but also shocked me.

He's calling me by my _name_ now?

I stared at him in shock and confusion as I began to speak, "Who—"

"_Who are you and what have you done with Dr. Cox_?" he mimicked what I was about to say, but in an overwhelmingly friendly demeanor that made me almost wished he _was_ insulting me like normal.

Was I _that_ predictable?

"Dr. Cox, I just wanted to say that I—"

"Don't apologize for something that was my fault," he stated in a slightly more somber tone of voice.

"Dr. Cox, it wasn't your fault! I'm the one that believed he was this prince charming that could ride me off to some magical land of my hopes and dreams! I was lonely and desperate and I really needed someone like that. Besides, I'm the one that was stupid enough to go gallivanting in the middle of the night looking for him when he was just planning to kill me all along," I declared firmly as my eyes met his.

Suddenly, I realized something. I didn't feel any pain anymore. The morphine must have finally kicked in.

Looking at me, he nodded his head and smiled lightly. "No. No, that's not it. You couldn't have known. He had everyone fooled. He may have had me fooled to a certain degree, but damn it all, I should've known the moment everything began piecing together, that it was more than just a few coincidences…"

I knew it was no use arguing with him, and we both made our points, so there was no sense in letting it persist onward. "Let's agree to agree that no matter what either one of us had done, he was going to try to kill me anyway," I stated in a mumble.

Immediately as I said that, Dr. Cox avowed, "You weren't supposed to die last night. You weren't," he mumbled to himself, intentionally loud enough for me to hear.

"Huh?"

"I don't guess I'll ever know if it was some greater power or whatever that led me to you, but I'd like to think that last night was the turning point for something, that you weren't supposed to die, because honestly, I haven't felt the same since I pulled that trigger, Elliot. I haven't. It was basically a one in a million chance I'd find you alive in time to save you and _actually_ end up doing so in the process. I was so guilt driven yesterday that it was _unbearable_. I have never felt those emotions so strongly before, and it was because I knew that your death would be on my shoulders, whether it was viewed as my fault in someone else's eyes or not, your death would not have left my conscience—_ever_. "

"I didn't understand why I was fueled only by anger and guilt to begin with," he paused, and his gaze became fixated on mine, "I didn't understand it until I finally realized that…that I actually cared about you more than just another person or colleague."

I gawked at him in a daze of bewilderment as he finished, "I cared about you as a daughter," he proclaimed, swallowing my piercing gaze of disorientation as I sunk myself deep into my pillow and grabbed Pepper, clutching her to my side.

I was left so speechless by him pouring out his soul to someone—_no_, _**me**_, that it caused me to start crying again, and he didn't like that.

He cringed and begged, "Please, don't cry, alright? This is hard enough for me as it is…,"

I sniffed. "What happened after I passed out?" I choked out as I began wiping my eyes. I wanted to know…I wanted to know what happened.

Dr. Cox sighed, his expression so blank it was lifeless, and he swallowed hard. "He's dead," he mumbled out as he looked away from my gaze, "I killed him."

Suddenly, everything inside me felt like it was just ripped out by those few heartbreaking words. My head felt heavy and the tears continued to drop silently as I gasped almost inaudibly. "Oh," I whispered weakly as I snuggled my head into Pepper's dress.

I could feel all of Dr. Cox's emotions bursting out of him in that one sentiment and it took my breath away. I wish I could have just taken that all from him. None of this would have happened if—_no_. He would never have been harmed, but I on the other hand…that's another story. It was going to happen, whether I met him formally or not.

Somehow, it became apparent to me that Dr. Cox was not only acting unlike himself, but that he was letting me in, even if only for this moment in time. Killing a human by a medical mistake is one thing, but killing a human intentionally by your own hand…that's something else. That's something that leaves scars, and it never goes away.

He needed me. He was too proud to admit it, but he wanted me inside. He needed me to help him through that. He'd only open up to me, even if it's only because I went through this to, but it didn't matter at that point. He wanted me to understand, he just needed for me to know.

Then were those dreams…?

"I immediately collapsed to the ground and the police arrived after hearing the gunshots, but they found us in time," he said, still no longer looking my way and he remained in that same empty voice.

That was a miracle, and the law's timing was _impressive_.

"He was pronounced dead on the scene, and I urged them to treat you first."

There was a quiet intensity that enclosed the room for several moments before he spoke again. "I thought you were going to die," he breathed out.

He probably wasn't sure I had passed out or…

After several moments, I sighed, "I'm so sorry, Dr. Cox. I really am. That was the last thing in the world anyone would want to do, and there isn't really anything I can say to change things or make it any easier on you. All I can do is be there for you when you need me and try my best to, you know, repay you in any way possible. Dr. Cox, you saved my life. You took a _life_ to save _mine_. I owe myself to you. I don't have enough gratitude to properly thank you with, and I probably never will, but I want you to know that you've…you've been like a father to me, too. Like when you supported my relationship with Jake in your own _Coxian_ way, and Dr. Cox…you even took up for me when Kelso was riding me harder than usual, and you even knew what would happen if you clocked him like you did. You knew it. You were proud of me, weren't you?"

During my heartfelt speech, Dr. Cox managed to meet my gaze again. This time though, he was smiling. "I'm proud of you now, Elliot. I am."

I smiled back at him and cuddled against Pepper more. "Does this mean were friends?"

He chuckled lightly and replied in a semi-serious tone, "Yeah. We are—on two conditions," he suddenly paused, "I will still call you Blondie and Barbie during work, maybe drop in a few _Dr. Reid's_ here and there, but under no circumstance will you allow _anyone _inside this dump to know that we are friends and that this conversation ever happened between us, you got that?"

I smiled hopelessly, "Got it." Honestly, it was actually more than I expected from him, and I was happy about that.

He grabbed the arms of the seat and pulled himself up while seething in pain. He looked back down at me and gave me a smile. "I better get going now," he stated casually.

Before he began walking off, he looked at me and grinned, "Do you…wanna grab a coffee when you get out or something…?"

"It's enough that you're trying to be nice, really, it's okay, you don't—"

"No, I insist. We'll head over to some Coffebucks after we get out, alright?"

I smiled bashfully. "Okay, sounds like a plan."

All I had to say was _wow_. _**I'm**_ the one that owes _him_, not vice versa.

"Well, see ya."

He started walking away and actually made it to the door before I asked, "Wait! Are you coming back later? I don't want to be left alone that long..."

He turned around and smiled, "You'll never be alone. You're friends will come and visit you later."

I looked at him in a confusing manner and mumbled, "What…?"

He started to exit when he suddenly stopped and shot his head back around with his mouth slightly open. "Oh, and can you do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" I asked curiously.

"Wake up for me, will ya?"

* * *

Tears began to pour down my face as I shot my body forward.

_No, that couldn't have been another dream, it just couldn't have! It was too real!_

Breaking me from my chain of thoughts was Laverne passing by my door.

"_**LAVERNE!**_" I screamed out hoarsely without a second thought.

Luckily for me, I got her attention. Standing in the entrance of the door, she asked softly and despondently, "Is there something wrong, Dr. Reid?"

"When will I be able to talk with Dr. Cox?" I asked her frenetically.

She paused for a second and responded, "He coded nearly a minute ago. I'm so sorry, Dr. Reid…," she lamented, almost in tears.

_No…_

"**NO**_**! HE'S **_**NOT** _**DEAD! HE **_**CAN'T** _**BE DEAD**_!" I shouted as I disconnected myself from the monitors and the morphine.

Laverne quickly retaliated and yelled, "Dr. _Reid_! What in _the_ _hell_ do you think you are doing?"

_Dr. Cox…_

She tried to grab me as I hysterically screamed and pushed her away from me. Somehow, my thrust was so hard it managed to throw her onto the floor as I stumbled off in a fit of rage as I began exiting my room to track down Dr. Cox's room. I didn't have a single second to spare, and I didn't even try to rationalize with myself. All I wanted was to see Dr. Cox. I wanted to see him _alive_.

I staggered while clutching my stomach walking towards wherever my feet took me. My left foot flailed around as I carried myself further ahead. Sure enough, the crowd that was yards in front of me told me that this was indeed the room he was staying in, and only several feet away. I kept stumbling and forcing myself to run faster when Carla and Dr. Kelso saw me coming and I was afraid that they would try to stop me.

"_**DR. COX!**_" I screamed out in pain.

_He couldn't be dead…_

"Elliot…!" Carla gasped as I pushed my way through her and the other staff.

That's when I saw JD and a pair of defibrillators tossed across the room, him laying his head next to Dr. Cox's.

_He just couldn't be._

I looked down at my stomach and saw my stitches were torn and I was pouring of blood. The scenario in front of me then caused me to faint once again.

When I woke up, I was greeted by many familiar faces. All of my friends and more were there.

That is, everyone but Dr. Cox.

"Elliot! What on earth were you thinking?" Carla scolded in a concerned and angry tone of voice.

"Is he dead?" I asked hazily, interrupting her attempt for an answer.

Carla brushed my hair behind my ear and smiled. "No honey," she paused, "JD brought him back," she answered sweetly and in relief.

"But…but I saw…"

"You saw JD crying—not in grief, but in relief. The other doctor's and I had given up on him after repeated attempts at defibrillating his heart back to normal rhythm. When he got there after being paged, he took the defibrillators and shocked him three times and we finally got a pulse," she paused after a mellow and gentle tone and ended, "JD saved his life, Elliot. He didn't give up on him, and it seems as though you weren't about to either."

I looked up at her in a daze as I rested my head further into my pillow, then closing my eyes and beginning to take it all in a breath.

_Dr. Cox was alive._

"Don't try something that stupid again, alright, Elliot?" Turk stated firmly.

I nodded slowly as I scanned the room. "When can I see him?"

JD walked up behind Turk and Carla and he looked at me, this time with a little more life into his face. "When your stitches have time to heal, but until then you need plenty of bed rest. We'll get you a wheelchair, don't worry, okay?" he assured me kindly.

"Alright," I uttered, smiling dimly.

I was disappointed though, but I don't know why I bothered to ask because I already _knew_ that. I just wanted to see him so bad…even if I can't tell him about my dream…

That's when it got me thinking.

What if the dream version of Dr. Cox isn't anything like the way the real Dr. Cox feels? Was it all just fabricated, not even some sort of prediction? I don't consider myself a believer in a lot of spiritual matters such as those, but I wanted to believe that somehow Dr. Cox and I were synced onto the same frequency the entire time, even though it mostly involved some pretty _weird_ dreams.

Nonetheless, I just wanted to know if Dr. Cox still looked upon me as a daughter and not just a friend he cared about. It made me feel…special. That JD wasn't the only one that he revered as a 'child'. I may not have been his protégé, but I was something more. I was something special that he himself never really took the time to acknowledge and to fully understand.

I was _his_ Barbie.

I finally understood why JD starved for his attention and respect. I wanted that, I wanted it so badly. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, but Dr. Cox has been there for me in his own weird way. He's looked over me. He never took any special interest with anyone other than JD, and he also seemed to actually give a crap about me at certain points, and that's not expected for anyone else.

Why _me_ though? Was it because I was friends with JD?

"Why don't we let Elliot get some rest?" Carla stated as she faced the small crowd of people that hovered my bedside.

Dr. Kelso's smile stretched from ear to ear when he said, "I'll be sure to let Dr. Cox know as soon as he wakes up that you're all worried about him and let him know how heroic you all thought he was, I'm sure a nice ego boost would be enough to heal that cocky bastard," he said sarcastically.

Everyone smiled, because they all knew it was true. If he were to tell him that, he would probably gloat about it, but regret having killed Michael (if in fact he did). As for the dream version of Dr. Cox, I don't exactly see him gloating about anything, really. It was too early at that point to predict just what was exactly going on inside his head, but I could only hope for the latter.

I couldn't believe I was going to say this, but I only hoped that he returned back to '_normal'_, whatever the hell that was in his little world…and that he wouldn't suffer emotionally and mentally from that experience, because I know I'll probably be a little wary of boyfriends for a very, very long time…

* * *

**ONE WEEK LATER

* * *

**

I roamed down the halls of Sacred Heart for the first time since being stabbed in the stomach and found it quite pleasant. My legs were still bruised up and my left foot was dislocated (and yet I was still able to drag myself where I needed to go prior to the diagnosis) from the fall off of the apartment steps, and that was another major reason I was put into a wheel chair.

Everyone greeted me and asked me how I was doing and complimented Pepper and her adorable dress as she sat upon my lap. Of course, I wasn't just roaming the halls for the hell of it. I was going to visit Dr. Cox for the first time in a week and check and see how he was doing and finally get to talk to him.

As I approached his room, I could hear his TV on, and of course, it was ESPN I could only assume. As I wheeled myself into the doorway, he was already well aware I was there.

"Barbo, I see you've healed up quite nicely," he greeted.

This made me smile uncontrollably as the thought my dream may have finally rung true.

"Hey, Dr. Cox! I'm doing great, still sore and in a little pain, but the medication is taking care of that. How are you doing?" I asked merrily.

He smiled softly at me and muted the TV. "I'm doing alright for a guy who got shot only inches away from his heart," he said sarcastically.

_Come on, Elliot; ask him about the dream…_

"When are you expected to return to work?"

"In a few more weeks, three at least."

_Just say 'Dr. Cox, I had a few weird dreams involving you…' it's not that hard…_

"That's good," I smiled. "How's Jordan taking this?"

"She's actually taking it better than I expected. I thought for sure she'd be upset about not being able to dip into my life insurance after they told her I would be fine," he stated absentmindedly as he seemed to be fixated on me.

_Why won't you ask him?_

Dr. Cox looked up at me oddly for a brief moment, then asking, "What's bothering you?"

_Just ask him…_

I smiled and tucked my hair back behind my ear and said, "Well, it's just, I had these really weird dreams the day I was admitted to the hospital and…this certain one really bugged me. Well, they all did, but the last one I had seemed very real, but of course it wasn't…," I ended without even finishing.

What was I _doing_?

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me—do you still want to grab that coffee when we get out of here?"

My eyes immediately grew wide and I began to stutter. "Uh—I gotta run to the bathroom, I'll catch you later…," I stated nervously as I quickly rolled my way out the door without looking back at him, even though I knew he was smirking.

I finally had my answer.

As I wheeled my way back to my room, I was lost in all sense of the word. My thoughts were cluttering together and I felt so lightheaded that I almost passed out.

He…he knew _too_? How was that humanly _possible_? We…did we have the same dream or…_what_?

Soon after asking those questions towards myself, a weight was instantly lifted off of my shoulders and I felt as though I could finally extinguish that burning question I've been craving since that dream.

I remembered the expression on his face when he answered me offhandedly—it was some sort of mutual understanding, everything I had been feeling. It was confirmed. I knew that _dream_ would probably never be mentioned of again. Neither one of us was going to ask each other _why_. We weren't going to discuss it. We weren't going to try to understand it. We didn't have to. If indeed we were truthfully communicating with each other, there was no need to reiterate it. How it happened was another story, it was one we weren't going to bring up with each other again or mention to anyone outside of us.

There was no doubt that I was officially creeped out, and I was sure he was too, even though I knew he most likely enjoyed blowing my mind with that answer.

I also wanted to believe that this unbridled kindness he had working there was going to last, but I wasn't that foolish. It was only temporary. Eventually everything would go back normal and all of this would be in the past and the both of us would continue our normal routines as he calls me his favorite nicknames and I will continue to tell him off when he tries to be an overcompensating ass.

Somewhere outside of our friends, somewhere outside these walls, we would meet up with each other again and he would allow himself to be vulnerable around another human being, and I could only hope things would work out for the better. I know that I would never expect more than maybe an invitation to a party or a double date with friends, but at least I would know that it wasn't forced. That bond would always be there. He would always care and be there for me. Truthfully, he was there for all of us. That meant JD, Carla, and even Turk, too.

I know this sounded really cheesy for me to say, but it's true. After that night, everything changed. But it didn't create anything new that wasn't already there. Those feelings were there to begin with. That event only surfaced those feelings and it was for the better. I saw Dr. Cox as a completely different person. I saw him for what he really was, and that was this concerned and courageous father figure who deeply cared for his friend he looked upon more as a daughter. He may have been driven partly due to guilt, but he valiantly was willing to give up his life to save mine. I always knew there was good in him, but not as much as I saw that night. His heart…his heart was made of pure gold. I finally understood why he had always done the things he did, even if some things were pretentious and irrational. Everything I ever thought about him changed at that point in time.

I finally knew how he felt about me, and that left me with such a warm feeling in my heart. I owed everything to him. I owed my _life_ to him. There wasn't anything I could do to repay him for what he did, and I was fully aware of that. He was brave and he didn't have any second thoughts about what he did. He was caring and kind to me. Truth be told, he was a lot of things to me. He was my colleague. He was my friend. He was my enemy. He was my father.

_He was my hero.

* * *

_

_**Author's Notes:**_ _Oh, dear God, it's finished! It really is finally finished! :'D This chapter was actually harder than I thought it would be to write—I didn't expect it to change so much. It kept changing every time I wrote each day (seriously) and this is what became of it. Yeah, I know, the ending was cheesy, but what the hell, right? *giggle*_

_I'm actually proud of the relationship I've established with Elliot and Perry because I think it's one that often gets overlooked in the show. This story's purpose was the shed the light on that one amazing scene from Scrubs (as it's aforementioned) that seemed to perfectly capture the father/daughter thing that almost doesn't exist. This is just how I feel it should be handled, but it's there, you know?_

_Anyways, my next projects are going to be the possible story titled His Voodoo, which centers mostly around JD, and it's backbone will focus on this story's idea (bad relationship) but instead it'll be about revenge against JD and all his friends. This will definitely be more fantasy than the ending was to Her Hero, but as I said, things change. I'll probably take some time to write it after My Fandom and I'll see what I can do about updating because even during the summer I'm busy. *gasp* For a girl that has no life, anyway. xP_

_I want to thank all of my reviewers for sticking with this story even though it's horribly written (and you can't tell me otherwise xD). I re-HEE-ly want to thank Bells of Tomorrow and maximom4077 for sticking with this story and for the wonderful reviews, you guys are amazing. :') That reminds me, I am going to have to catch up on My Captain because tomorrow's update day *GASP!* and I can't BELIEVE I haven't had the time to read it…I'm so sorry! I have a lot to catch up on, actually…_

_Anyways, I hope everyone has a fantastic spring and summer and thank you all for reading, I appreciate it! ^_^ Until next time!_

_PS – There was also a meaning to both of the first dreams. If you're a rabid Dr. Cox fan (and understand my dark metaphors) you'll probably get it. *whistle* This may not be my last Elliot/Cox story, let's just say. ;P I also did a shout out to my lovely Emilie Autumn and Tori Amos. ;D Wee…bye now!_


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